You're So Blind
by justalongthemirroroferised
Summary: AU, non-massacre. Sakura hasn't seen Sasuke in five years, and now he's suddenly on her operating table. Naruto is determined to get revenge, can Sakura stop him from murdering her new squad leader Uchiha Itachi as they embark on a dangerous mission? ItaSaku, rated M for violence, and possibly future mature character interaction. Please read and review!
1. Recognition

_That's enough blood. They'll have what they need to run all the tests. I think her iron's a little low; I'll put a note in her file to keep an eye on it._

Withdrawing the syringe from her patient, Sakura smiled reassuringly at the father-to-be standing anxiously by. "You'll get her results within the next couple of days. I'll send someone by for you."

The expectant mother rubbed the inside of her elbow. "Thank you. I really hope the results are positive."

Nodding in understanding, Sakura capped the vial of blood and inscribed the label. "I'm sure they will be; you and the baby are both healthy. Do you need a wheelchair to help you out?"

Sakura glanced up in surprise as the clinic doors suddenly slammed open. A panic-stricken intern stumbled into the room. Sakura rose to her feet, and rushed over to support the poor woman. The patients in the room began to whisper amongst themselves, staring at the commotion.

"H-Haruno-san!" She gasped, face white as a sheet. "There's an emergency on the ground floor! They need you right away!"

Sakura nodded, and guided the girl to an empty chair. "Mika, can you look after things here for me? I need you to make sure things are under control."

Hesitating only enough to make sure she nodded, Sakura took off at a sprint down the stairwell.

Reaching the ground floor, she pushed her way through patients and visitors jammed in the hallway watching. The timing couldn't have been worse, visiting hours were just coming to an end and the flood of people impeded her path.

"Umi-san, get all of these people out of here!" She snapped at the nurse on duty at the visitor desk who was standing on her chair to peer over the crowd. Sheepishly, the nurse jumped down and began to herd the spectators away.

Spotting the source of the rubber-necking, Sakura dashed down the hall pulling on surgical gloves. The patient was strapped to a gurney, and she could see the scarlet flash of blood dripping to the floor. There was so much blood; she couldn't tell where the source was. _Please don't let it be anyone I know._

Reaching the stretcher, she nodded to her fellow paramedics. "What've we got here, how long has the patient been like this?"

"Two minutes at most, Haruno-san. Made it here and collapsed in the entry. He's a male, twenty years old, shinobi; femoral artery is slashed, punctured lung, stab wound to the upper chest. Likely caused by a katana, or a kunai. Laceration length is four inches." One of her colleagues listed calmly.

"Got it. We need to do everything we can to save him."

Time was of the essence, she would get the full report later. She ripped the restraining bands off the victim's body with little effort, ignoring the knots keeping them taunt. Pushing the gurney down the hallway, it sloped gently downwards and gained momentum. She was fully concentrated on stemming the flow of blood seeping from the leg wound, and she darted a quick glance at the blood bubbling from the victim's chest.

"Kira-san, notify operating room seven, we've got incoming and I'm going to need lots of blood. O-negative if you can get it. Get the Hokage, she's got the new trial blood transfusion jutsu ready, he-"

She stopped suddenly, as she finally got a good look at her patient's face.

"S-Sasuke?" She stammered, her blood running cold as she took in the sight of her dying former teammate. _No, this can't be happening!_

Sasuke Uchiha frowned weakly at her. "Don't…stare…annoying." His voice was no more than a whisper as he struggled to breathe. Blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth, and she could hear his breath rattling in his chest.

He coughed suddenly and another wave of blood came seeping out of the slash on his leg. She pressed her hands frantically over the opening, trying to staunch the bleeding. "Don't speak, save your energy!"

Her colleagues continued their course towards the operating room, and she shakily attempted to pull herself together. Loading her hands with chakra, she concentrated on boosting his platelets, needing his blood to coagulate. His heart beat frantically, as his survival instincts kicked in and sent his system into overdrive. He continued to bleed out, and she switched tactics. Focusing on the jagged edges of his skin, she shaped her chakra into threads and fed it into his skin. It closed and she let out a sigh of relief.

Seconds later, the pressure built up by his racing heart burst through the fragile restraint and splattered over the medics racing to save him. Ignoring the blood now peppered over her skin and in her hair, she heated her chakra as quickly as possible to try and cauterize the cut.

"Don't you _dare_ die on me, you jerk!" She was almost hysterical, seeing him like this sent adrenaline through her veins and her chakra-lit hands flickered as her control wavered. She was so meticulous about her chakra wielding that losing her the slightest amount of concentration shook her badly.

"Dammit!" She exclaimed, panic racing through her as Sasuke's eyes glazed over and his head drooped sideways. "Somebody get Tsunade-sama _now_!"

She could distantly hear herself giving orders, to keep pressure off the punctured lung, and to intubate and support the undamaged one. Her mind was far away as she did so, working automatically as her muscle memory took over. _I haven't lost a patient yet, not going to start with him!_

One of her fellow medics reached around her and packed bandages and gauze into the wound. "Keep the pressure on it, we're almost there." He informed her calmly. She nodded, trying to stay focused.

After what seemed like an eternity, they burst through the doors and screeched to a halt. Sakura fumbled with an IV, trying to find a vein. They had all collapsed from constriction and she swore. Eyes on his face, she began to hyperventilate as the color faded from his cheeks and his eyes rolled back into his head.

"Can anyone get me a vein in his foot, or his scalp?!" She demanded, as she tightened a tourniquet around his upper arm. "I need that blood, now!"

"Sakura, you need to breathe. Relax and remember what I taught you."

Sakura almost collapsed with relief as Tsunade swept into the room. _Breathe, in and out._

The medics jumped to attention and two continued to feed healing chakra into the arterial cut. She turned her attention back to Sasuke and finally managed to slide the needle into a vein. Sakura moved her hands to his chest to heal the damaged lung, and jerked in shock as Tsunade covered both hands with her own.

The Hokage looked down sadly at Sasuke and shook her head. "You need to leave. Now."

Tsunade took Sakura by the shoulders and moved her out of the way of the gurney. Kira rushed to Sakura's vacated position and began to work on the damaged lung.

Sakura's eyes widened and she shook her head fervently. "No, I can still save him, there's still time!" She could hear her voice rising, and she continued to babble incoherently. "There's enough blood in his body from when I managed to cover the wound, if I can do it again his heart could-"

She cut off abruptly as Tsunade suddenly shook her. "Stop, Sakura! You know the protocol; you are too emotionally invested in this patient. I can't allow you to continue to operate."

Sakura was speechless; she stared blankly as Tsunade propelled her from the room. "I'll do everything I can to save him, but I can't have you here. Go to the waiting room."

" _No,_ you _have_ to let me help _!"_ Sakura insisted, struggling as two waiting shinobi, one of whom was Kakashi she noticed dimly, took her arms in iron grips and began to tow her from the doorway.

"I'm sorry. I need to get back in there, keep her from entering this operating room." Tsunade addressed the guards with the last statement. "Someone find Uzumaki Naruto, have him meet Sakura."

She shot a concerned glance at her hysterical student. "Don't let her be alone right now."

Sakura didn't protest any further as Kakashi steered her away and then gently sat her down in one of the waiting rooms adjacent to the operation.

He didn't say a word, just sat down next to her. He laced his fingers together and was still as a statue, save for his left leg bouncing; the only outward sign of his anxiety.

They sat in silence, Sakura was still in shock. As the adrenaline ebbed from her body she suddenly felt exhausted. For the first time since Sasuke had been wheeled in, she felt the urge to sob. _I thought he would be the last person I'd see in that condition_.

She lost track of time, and the sweat on her brow cooled and she felt chilled. She rubbed her eyes in futile attempt to keep her tears contained. Drawing them away from her face, she stared at them as though seeing Sasuke's splattered blood across her knuckles for the first time.

"He's going to die, isn't he?" She asked quietly, tears sliding silently down her cheeks.

"I don't know." Kakashi replied, his voice hoarse. "Hokage-sama will do everything she can. Don't lose hope yet. "

"You didn't see his injuries, did you?" Her voice was flat, her tears already drying on her cheeks. "I couldn't stop the bleeding."

He sighed. "I know it looks bad, but-"

"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei are you guys okay?! I got here as soon as I got the bird! What's going on?"

Sakura glanced up to see Naruto running full-pelt towards them. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the looks on their faces. "Sakura?"

She shook her head, lips pressed together. She had no idea what to say, he would either be completely crushed or go running into the operating room; she wouldn't stop him. She would follow him into the surgery, Tsunade's protocols be damned.

Kakashi put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and stood up. "Sasuke's badly injured. We're waiting for news; Sakura was the first to try to stem the bleeding. I'm sorry, but it's not looking good at this point."

Naruto's mouth fell open, and for once even he was speechless. Turning abruptly, he punched the wall behind him so hard that three of his knuckles broke. Sakura flinched as they cracked.

He stood there for a moment, completely silent. His entire body was shaking and there was blood dripping from his split knuckles.

"How in the hell did _he_ , of all of us get so fucked up?!" He growled through gritted teeth. "How are you so _calm_?!"

"Naruto." All three members of team seven looked up; Tsunade was soaked in blood and looked completely drained. "I'm so sorry."

"What…what do you mean?!" Naruto stammered, his arm bracing his weight against the wall. Sakura shot to her feet, her stomach plummeting with the news.

Kakashi was still silent, but Tsunade could see him trembling. "How…?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "He'd lost too much blood already by the time he got here. The blade he was stabbed with was coated with an anti-coagulate and there was no way to stop the bleeding. There was nothing we could do."

Sakura's hands were shaking uncontrollably, and she felt like she couldn't breathe. "I didn't check his body for poison, I should have checked, he might still be alive right now if I'd done my _job_ -"

"Sakura! That's enough!" Tsunade's command cracked through the room like a whip. "You did your best."

Naruto scrubbed the tears away from his eyes, and turned away. "I want to see him." His tone was colder than Sakura had ever heard it.

Tsunade flinched, and closed her eyes briefly. "Not yet. I have something to discuss with the three of you first. Follow me."


	2. Illumination

Sakura stared blankly ahead of her as the group ascended to the Hokage tower. She felt numb, but not enough to ignore the feeling that her heart was going to explode. She was ashamed that she wasn't screaming and crying and breaking things, wasn't that what you did when someone you cared about died? She regretted not reaching out to Sasuke after he left the team, and although she'd outgrown her childhood crush he was still important to her.

Or was he?

Her mind flashed to memories of him belittling her, jeering at her attempts at ninjutsu, his holier-than-thou attitude. _I never thought I would miss that. He was always such an asshole._

Kakashi had once found her crying, after a particularly cruel insult from Sasuke. He'd confided in her, that Sasuke came from a family where siblings were pitted against one another and kindness was seen as weakness. Sakura realised then, that Sasuke simply didn't know any other way to communicate with his peers.

Then again, he'd never been a selfless person; he could be cold and calculating and only thought about himself. After meeting several of the Uchiha police force over the years, Sakura determined that it must have been a family trait.

He'd left the team abruptly when they were fifteen. Sakura had hardly seen him since; there were times where it felt like he'd never existed. It wasn't until a year later that Sakura finally understood what happened.

Sasuke had always worked to be a better shinobi than his older brother, whom Sakura had never met. He was infamous in Konoha and the surrounding countries, she could remember her teachers at the academy fondly reminiscing his school days.

As far as she knew, Sasuke had always hated him. She'd asked him once, why there was so much tension between them. He'd scoffed at her, as usual. _"You'll never understand. You're not Uchiha, you can't even compare."_

Knowing Sasuke's skill, she knew Itachi was nothing to sniff at. The head of the Uchiha clan, decided to groom Sasuke to become Konoha's new chief of police after he'd passed the chuunin exam with flying colors. She hadn't known at the time that Fugaku Uchiha was Sasuke's father.

Kakashi had been just as surprised as they were, but he'd taken it well. Naruto left the village the first chance he got with Jiraya, and tired of being left behind again, Sakura had begun her tutelage under the current Hokage. _I guess I have Sasuke to thank for that._

Naruto confided in her some time later than he was sure Sasuke had only agreed to the position in order to compete with Itachi. Sakura didn't see how two brothers could possibly have such a bitter rivalry.

Glancing over at Naruto, she reached out and briefly squeezed his hand in hers. He returned the pressure, his eyes never losing their blank stare as they continued to ascend. She could see Kakashi and Tsunade talking quietly, but the last thing she wanted to hear right now was how Sasuke had died in blood and pain.

 _It's always been Naruto and I, and I guess that's how it's going to stay._ She thought sadly.

They finally reached the top, and she meekly followed Tsunade into the familiar office.

Settling into her chair, and resting her elbows on the desk, Tsunade surveyed them solemnly. "This isn't easy for me to say." She began, her brow furrowed. "But there are a few things you need to know about what happened to Sasuke."

Sakura's head shot up, she'd been staring at the carpeted floor. "What are you saying?"

Naruto was uncharacteristically quiet; his lips were pressed together so tightly that they were white.

Tsunade sighed. "The blade he was stabbed with was identified. It was dropped a ways away from the front entrance."

She paused momentarily as her statement was met with rigid silence. "It was his katana that cut into him and delivered the anti-coagulant." She pursed her lips. "That particular variety of poison, as Sakura knows; is very hard to come by."

She reached into one of her desk drawers, and Sakura's nails dug into her palms. Sasuke's glittering katana, instantly recognizable by the Uchiha crest; was slid onto the polished wood. Blood covered the thin blade almost all the way to the hilt.

"You'd need a lot of money and connections to procure enough to coat a full katana." Sakura remarked, her voice surprisingly steady. "He has…he _had_ both." She corrected herself miserably.

She'd been coached thoroughly on poisons and their effects, and she knew immediately why Tsunade was so reluctant to divulge this information.

"Sasuke was ambushed." Kakashi remarked quietly, moving to inspect the blade.

"No, he wasn't." Sakura countered, her arms crossed. "His blade is the one that's covered in the poison. He was after someone, with the intent to kill."

Naruto spoke up suddenly. "Who would Sasuke want dead? He didn't have any real enemies, but I also don't know how many friends he actually had besides us."

Tsunade nodded approvingly. "The same conclusion I came to. But we don't have to look any further for the target. He came and spoke to me moments before I received your message, Sakura."

Naruto sucked in a shocked breath. "The target killed him? Who the hell was this guy?!"

Tsunade paused. Steeling herself, she glanced up at Kakashi and nodded solemnly at the glint of understanding in his eye. "What I'm about to tell you, is confidential. If any of this information is leaked, I will have no choice but to regard it as treason. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded, fists still clenched. "Yeah, I do."

"Naruto?" She raised an eyebrow, staring down the defiant shinobi.

"Yeah." He muttered, his jaw clenched with anxiety.

"Good. You can come in now." She called across the room, eyes on Naruto. Kakashi caught her eye and moved slightly to intercept him, should he launch towards the newcomer.

Sakura turned to watch as the door eased open and an unfamiliar man strode into the room. He was wearing an Anbu mask, and she didn't recognize his profile. The way he moved was predatory, almost feline and she felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down her spine. There was something eerily familiar about the way he stood. _Wait a second, it can't be…_

"Hokage-sama." His voice was slightly husky, and Sakura's eyes narrowed. There was something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on. But she had a gut feeling that she knew exactly who he was.

Tsunade rose, and waved him into the room. "Shut the door behind you, this may take a while."

He inclined his head slightly, and settled in the corner of the room. Sakura didn't take her eyes off him, and she moved as far away as she could get. From the opposite corner, she could see every move he made and it provided her with an interception point should he try to escape through the window.

"Start talking." Naruto growled, his whole body tensed to spring.

The masked Anbu nodded slightly, and reached to remove his mask. "Where should I start, Uzumaki-san?"

Sakura's stomach plummeted into her knees as she caught sight of his face. She felt like she couldn't breathe as Uchiha Itachi stared calmly at them.


	3. Guilt

He couldn't possibly be anyone else; the similarities between the siblings were too striking. She stared unashamed, her mouth falling open slightly as she took in the sight of Sasuke's infamous older brother.

Naruto pointed at him, his arm shaking. "What the hell?! It was you?!"

Itachi resembled his brother, with the angular cheekbones and haughty brows. His eyes roamed over their group, coldly assessing them. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she realised that his eyes were unfocused.

The majority of Konoha's police force was comprised of Uchiha clansmen. Sakura had healed enough of them to know that using the sharingan to excess destroyed the optic nerves. With Itachi's elite status, it made sense that he would have accelerated the damage. _He's gone half-blind at least._

It was unlikely he was able to see details at her distance and from where she was standing; he would only be able to clearly see an outline of where she stood. _Good to know._

"Naruto, just let me explain a little." Kakashi interjected, warily edging to block his view of Itachi. "Correct me if I'm wrong about anything." He shot over his shoulder. Itachi looked slightly taken aback for a split second before motioning for Kakashi to continue.

Sighing, he crossed his arms. "Years ago, there was talk of a rebellion, a coup d'état. From what I remember, Fugaku Uchiha was gathering his allies from the surrounding countries. I was still active as an Anbu member at the time, and we were sent on a lot of intel missions to find out what he was up to."

Naruto nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off Itachi. "So I guess this is important somehow, but what does _he_ have to with anything?" He growled as his hands curled into fists.

"The Third filled me in on all of the case information before he died. Listen to what he has to say." Tsunade added softly, her gaze steady as she watched Naruto.

"At that point, Itachi had just gained rank as an Anbu captain. What Fugaku didn't know, was that he approached us as soon as he found out about the coup. He reported directly to the Hokage daily. We knew everything, from their plan of attack to their allies within our walls." Kakashi continued soberly.

Sakura was shocked. It was one thing to perform your duty, but to turn against one's clan was unheard of. He'd betrayed his family, and now Sasuke was dead because of him. She simmered with rage, but held her tongue. There had to be more to the story.

"The Uchiha clan, ever since the village was founded have never been overly friendly with any of the other clans. So as they began to gather allies, it was obvious they were up to something."

Itachi shook his head. "My clan is hardly a social bunch, and they are somewhat…abrasive. Which you would know, Sasuke is no different."

" _Was_ , you motherfucker!" Naruto snarled, coiled like a spring.

Throwing a glance at Itachi, Tsunade continued. "Naruto calm down, Fugaku caught eventually caught wind that the Hokage was onto him. So the coup was never accomplished. However, ever since he's always been suspicious of Itachi, just as we've been of him."

Itachi smirked slightly. "He was right of course, but I had my orders to play dumb. He and I have never seen eye to eye, especially when it came to my brother. He thought I would corrupt Sasuke against him, so he separated us when I was fourteen. I haven't spoken to him in thirteen years, not until tonight." He placed his mask on one of Tsunade's bookshelves and surveyed them solemnly.

"Your father taught Sasuke to hate you, so that when the order came he wouldn't hesitate to make an attempt on your life." Tsunade shook her head in disbelief. "Your own father was so afraid of what you knew that he was willing to kill you for it."

"Sasuke didn't know any better, it's not all his fault." Itachi muttered, shaking his head.

Sakura suddenly understood what he was saying, and the shock sent ice through her veins. That's when she saw the cut bleeding sluggishly on his forearm. _The blood hasn't coagulated_ , she realised, coming to a conclusion.

"It's yours." She couldn't stay silent any longer.

Itachi's eyes flicked up to her, and the muscles in his jaw clenched. He nodded, rigidly.

"Sakura!" Tsunade shot to her feet. "Wait a minute-"

"Let her talk, Hokage-sama." He said quietly, waving away her objection. "Ask away, Haruno-san."

Tsunade remained upright, incredulous at the sheer gall of her student.

"How much of your sight have you lost?" Sakura demanded, fury making her voice shrill. She ignored the fact the he knew her name; she would find that out later.

Itachi raised one eyebrow. "Impressive. You've seen enough sharingan side-effects to guess my condition."

"Sakura, what the hell are you asking?!" Naruto demanded, having been oddly silent for the last few moments. "He killed Sasuke, we already know it was him!"

"Shut up Naruto. Answer the question." She snapped, striding towards Itachi. Intent on intimidating him, she allowed her chakra to bloom outwards creating an amplified silhouette, knowing that all he would see was her outline getting larger. He didn't bat an eyelash.

"About two-thirds." He admitted calmly, unfazed. "I see well enough."

Tsunade whirled. "Are you kidding me?! Uchiha, you can't function properly as an operative in that condition!"

He shrugged. "It was never an issue until-"

"Until Sasuke attacked you, and you couldn't see that it was him." Sakura whispered. "It was pitch-black, and all you knew was that he was a threat."

The room's occupants all looked at her suddenly, with varying degrees of shock. Her interrogation had taken an unexpected turn. Sakura had pieced together the truth so quickly because it hadn't occurred to them to factor in the unique circumstances.

Itachi cleared his throat. "Correct. It appears that my brother learned a few things over the years."

"How could you not know your own brother?!" Naruto screamed, pushing past Kakashi to barrel towards Itachi, arms outstretched.

Itachi didn't move a muscle and allowed Naruto to punch him squarely in the face. Naruto reared his arm back for another strike and Kakashi dragged him back, pinning him against the opposite wall.

" _You bastard_!" He yelled throatily, his voice hoarse from emotion. Kakashi was straining to keep him in place, as Itachi wiped the blood away from his mouth.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, standing up straight. "All I was able to sense was a chakra signature, which was nothing like the one I remembered. I didn't see him until after he fell into the light of the window."

Naruto stopped struggling, his face wet with tears. Cautiously, Kakashi pulled his arm away, and turned to Itachi. "You remembered him as a little boy, not the man who came at you in the dark. He took off and you came straight here."

Her suspicions confirmed, Sakura hugged her arms to her body. "So, you didn't mean to kill him."

Itachi shook his head fervently. "No."

She could see that he was fighting to keep himself together. She couldn't think of anything else to say to him, she then turned over her shoulder to look at Naruto.

"Does it honestly surprise you that Sasuke would go this far?" She asked dully, realising just how blind they'd all been to Sasuke's ambition.

Finally, her emotional dam broke, and she could feel tears streaming down her cheeks.

Naruto stared at her for a moment, completely stunned. He wasn't alone; the three remaining people in the room were rendered speechless.

"S-Sakura, he wouldn't!" Naruto sputtered, obviously feeling that she'd betrayed him. "I can't believe you're taking _his_ side! You don't know what Itachi's done like I do!"

Kakashi shook his head, and put a firm hand on Naruto's shoulder. "No, you only knew what Sasuke wanted you to know about him."

Itachi crossed his arms, shaking his head. "I'm not sure you knew him at all, Uzumaki-san."

"I'm going to kill you; _you're_ the one who should be dead!" He yelled, tears now streaming down his cheeks.

"Naruto. Out. _Now_." Tsunade barked, she'd finally had enough of his immaturity.

Naruto glared at her, then spun on his heel and left, slamming the door. Sakura made to go after him, but Kakashi shook his head. "Give him some time to cool off."

Sakura sighed. "No, but he's right. I want to agree that Sasuke wouldn't go that far, but the facts say otherwise."

"Sasuke was emotionally stunted, there's no other way to put it." Tsunade muttered, crossing her arms and beginning to pace. "Uchiha, when did your sight begin to deteriorate?"

He thought for a moment before answering cautiously. "Four, maybe five years ago."

"You still managed to complete all of your missions, while compromised. I'm impressed."

Sakura knew exactly what kind of missions she was referring to; she'd seen devastating injuries on many of the Anbu corps members over the last few years. If he could come back unscathed with only a third of his vision intact, he was a priceless asset.

"Thank you, but I can see well enough." He nodded politely, obviously relieved that the conversation had changed course.

"You're one of our best operatives; I need to make some difficult decisions for the sake of the village. We already know that another sharingan, particularly of a loved one can cure your blindness."

She was met with stunned silence. _Wait, she can't mean…?_

Tsunade sighed sadly, her expression pained. "Uchiha, I have no choice. I'm ordering the surgery for the transferral of Sasuke's sharingan to you."

Sakura whirled around, furious at her mentor. "No, you can't!" She gasped; shocked that Sasuke's eyes were going to be cut from his body.

The thought sickened her.

Tsunade waved away her objection. "I'm sorry Sakura, but it's the only way to repair and guarantee Itachi's sight."

"Please, don't do this!" She pleaded. "It's horrible enough that Sasuke is _dead_ -"

"Yes Hokage-sama." Itachi interrupted her firmly. "When can I expect it to start?"

"Immediately, before the body begins to decompose. Sakura, please inform operating room three to prep for surgery."

Sakura bit the inside of her cheek so hard that she tasted blood. "Yes, Hokage-sama. Good luck on your recovery, Anbu-san." She spat through gritted teeth.

She shot one last glance at Itachi, and then turned on her heel and stalked from the room. She needed time to grieve, and for the first time in years the hospital was the last place she wanted to be.


	4. Moving On

**AN:** Hey guys! Just to clear up any confusion, because I've received some messages about this; the sharingan I'm referring to at the beginning of this chapter are ninja throwing stars, not a kekkei genkai. Kunai are very widely used, however throughout the series there is a fair bit of sharingan/shuriken use as well. I read a lot of translations of the manga where they used shuriken and sharingan interchangeably, so that's where I got that writing quirk from.

Sorry for any confusion, hope you guys like the story! Thanks so much for all of the support and encouragement, I'll try to be more regular with updating the story now that I'm not in the middle of university classes. :)

 **Five months later**

Sakura landed, one leg extended to distribute her weight. She sucked in a deep breath of air as she rose and glanced up at her handiwork. All but one of her shuriken were fully embedded in the posts opposite her. She glanced at the fallen star wistfully, wiping the sweat from her brow. _Not bad for coming off a triple shift._

Walking over to the post, she began to yank them out one by one. One was giving her a particularly hard time and she pushed the tiniest amount of chakra into her arm. She gave it one last pull and it slid out as if the dense wood was made of butter. Satisfied, she dropped them back into her weapons pouch and glanced upwards. The last streaks of dawn were just fading away and she had the training grounds to herself.

She stretched her arms over her head and yawned widely. Flopping down on the soft grass beneath a tree, she closed her eyes.

If she could catch even just a few minutes of sleep before she got called in again she would thank her lucky stars. She started to drift off immediately, sighing in contentment. She was so drowsy that she didn't even pay the rapidly approaching footsteps any mind.

"Sakura! Wake up, hey!"

She cracked one eye open to see Naruto peering down at her. He grinned widely and flopped down on the grass.

"What're you sleeping for?" He babbled, flipping his pendant around his fingers. "I've been up since dawn and I've already trained with Kakashi-sensei and I ran into Kiba and we're going to train later and-"

He cut off to take in a giant gulp of air. "-and I'm going to teach Shikamaru how to make a rasengan. "

She closed her eyes again, and smiled slightly. "Forget anything?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "I'll tell you if I remember."

"You're chipper." She yawned. "Sounds like a good start to the day, wish I had that much excitement."

"Yours hasn't ended has it?" He raised his eyebrows so high that they almost disappeared into his headband. "How many shifts this time?"

She smiled tiredly. "Three. It's no big deal, I can sleep later."

He whistled. "Jeez, that old lady's really pushing you hard these days."

She laughed. "I can turn down shifts, you know."

Running a hand through his fluffy hair, he sprawled out next to her. "But you don't."

"Nope. There's so much to do, we're always swamped." She didn't mention that working was the one thing that kept her mind off Sasuke's death, which was still too fresh for both of them.

"Has Kakashi-sensei talked to you yet?" He laced his fingers together behind his head.

She glanced over at him curiously. "No, should he have?"

He shrugged. "Old lady's sending me out on a mission."

Fully awake now, she turned her head and narrowed her eyes. "Is she really? That's interesting."

He fidgeted with the zipper on his jacket absentmindedly. "I haven't been out in a while. She must have nothing better to do if she's letting me out of the village."

Sakura frowned. "Maybe. Who's on the team?"

He avoided her gaze, suddenly finding the blades of grass between his fingers riveting.

Sakura sat up, regarding him warily. "Why do I have a feeling she's sending me along to keep an eye on you."

He chuckled sheepishly. "Something along those lines, yeah."

She groaned. "I should probably go find out what I'm in for."

"I'd hurry if I were you. She seemed mad, like _really_ mad." He was practically bouncing in place, he was so excited.

Smirking, Sakura rose to her feet. "This is going to be interesting. I'll catch up to you later."

"Get some sleep, alright?" He grinned at her, flashing his trademark thumbs up.

Knocking on Tsunade's office door, Sakura was burning with curiosity as to the mission. She could hear the Hokage call out for her to enter, and she pushed the door open.

"Tsunade-sama, you sent for me?" She asked warily, having avoided her as much as possible over the last several months.

"Come in here, close the door behind you." Tsunade turned from the window and settled into her armchair at the oaken desk. "You got here quickly."

"Well, a little fox let me know that you wanted to see me." Sakura replied, running a hand through her hair.

Tsunade laced her fingers together on the desk. "I'm sorry to tear you away from your work here, but I need you to go with him."

Sakura nodded, shrugging. "That's what I expected. What's the deal?"

"I certainly don't need to remind you that this information is not to leave this room." Tsunade pursed her lips. "It's a delicate situation, to be frank. We've received some information about Akatsuki movement to the east. What we know, is a smuggler who goes by the name of Raiton has been supplying them with information and drugs. He's been on our black list for years."

Sakura crossed her arms, intrigued. "So he's the middleman. Are we taking him out and why now?"

The Hokage shook her head. "We need him alive. What the previous Intel missions have been able to determine, is that he carries a scroll in which is recorded every transaction he's ever made and the details of every drug and poison he sells. The information can tell me exactly what to supply the Anbu teams with if they encounter Akatsuki. Until this point we've never been able to pinpoint his base location."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "And what about Naruto's involvement, isn't it too risky to send him out? He's a loose cannon, a great shinobi but so reckless I'd be worried to let him out of my sight."

Tsunade chuckled. "Which is exactly why I'm sending you with him, you're the best option for keeping him in line. I need Raiton alive, the scroll is sealed within his body and without the jutsu to unlock it I have nothing. Given his situation, Naruto knows the most about forbidden seals, although he may need some help."

Sakura smirked. "You know him pretty well; I can keep him from killing the target. Who else is coming with us?"

Tsunade's smile faded, and she was suddenly stern. "Two others, a small team will attract less attention. Neji Hyuuga is one, and the other could potentially cause a problem."

Sakura raised one eyebrow, unsure what she was getting at. "I'm not following."

Tsunade sighed, apparently steeling herself to answer. "Itachi Uchiha has been cleared for reinstatement as an Anbu corps captain. He will be leading the mission."

She felt her blood run cold, and her jaw dropped open. "W-what did you just say?" She stuttered, trying to understand the reasoning behind his appointment as captain.

"There are two reasons for choosing Itachi, first of all he has the most experience out of the lot of you; also he's run into Akatsuki agents before. His genjutsu techniques can also contain Naruto if necessary." Tsunade replied calmly, ignoring the fact that Sakura was openly staring at her.

"Don't look at me like that; I wouldn't pair you four up if I didn't think it was the best choice."

 _Yeah, just like you thought that implanting Sasuke's eyes was the best choice._ Sakura set her jaw, determined to keep her composure. "Of course it's the best option, Tsunade-sama." She answered quietly.

Tsunade sighed. "Sakura, I'm sorry. This isn't easy for me either. I know you've been avoiding me since Sasuke's death."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest. "Of course not, I've been so busy-"

"Don't." Tsunade interrupted her suddenly. "I understand that you're angry with me, I would be too in your position. When a teammate dies it's devastating, but to have his body disturbed after death is quite another thing altogether. If it makes you feel any better, Itachi didn't want the implant."

Sakura bit her lip, ashamed that she'd let her emotions run so rampant. "But it happened anyway."

Tsunade nodded, her face set into a pensive expression that hinted at her true age. "Yes, but you have to understand that Fugaku would have taken the eyes himself if I had not. This hunger for power he has is…well to the say the least, it's worrying. I couldn't have saved Sasuke from the same fate at his father's hands. This was the lesser of two evils."

The revelation about the corrupt nature of the Uchiha clan no longer fazed Sakura. She'd spent the last few months digging for information. What she'd found, had made her realise just how wrong she'd been to trust anything Sasuke had ever told her.

She'd found evidence of crippling mental illness, coupled with birth defects and physical and emotional development complications. All of which hinted at inbreeding, and Sakura knew very well that the Uchiha bloodline or more specifically; the kekkei genkai was coveted.

It was no wonder that they married within the clan, it allowed them to monopolize the optical advantage. She was horrified at the thought of families intermarrying for centuries, it was a wonder they hadn't died off already. To say the least, the effects of such actions were devastating to the remaining Uchiha. The sharingan's abilities and potency were weakening. There were stacks of sealed reports pertaining to loss of vision, and the inability to control and maintain the sharingan with each passing generation was alarming.

She was seeing more and more Uchiha members in the clinic as she attempted to mend some of the damage to their optic nerves. If another's sharingan could prevent further deterioration and mend what had already been lost, she wasn't surprised that Fugaku would take any opportunity presented to him.

That's when she had a chilling thought. _Oh god, there's no way._

"Tsunade-sama, I just thought of something." She said slowly, measuring her words and steeling herself for what she was about to say. "Do you think Fugaku knew that Sasuke would fail?"

Tsunade glanced up sharply, her eyes narrowing. "Sakura-"

"He knew. All along, he planned for Sasuke to die." She continued hollowly, her mind whirring to piece together the truth.

"But what he didn't plan on was Sasuke coming here; he counted on him returning home to die. His vision must be completely shot, he's nearly fifty. He needed a sharingan, and Sasuke was the easiest choice."

She glanced up, and met the steady gaze of the Hokage. "He sent his own son to die, because he wanted to be able to continue to use his sharingan."

Tsunade sighed, massaging her temples. "I came to the same conclusion; it all fits together too perfectly to be a coincidence. I underestimated Fugaku's determination, apparently. And because of my ignorance, a young man is dead."

Sakura slumped into the chair opposite her, biting her lip in thought. "But Itachi has Sasuke's eyes now. What's going to happen to him when Fugaku realises where they've gone?"

Tsunade smirked. "Bright as ever, you got to the point quickly. That's the second reason I'm sending him away, I think it would be best for him to leave the village for a while. It's too dangerous for him to be anywhere near his father, especially so soon after the surgery."

Sakura sighed. "I don't like it, but I'll keep an eye on both him and Naruto. How long is the mission?"

Tsunade shrugged. "It could take anywhere from two months to six. It all depends on how quickly you're able to secure Raiton and get him back here. I'm anticipating some trouble coming your way from Akatsuki. Be prepared for that."

"I've got my reserves, I can handle it. If Neji's coming too, we've got one hell of a team together."

Her mentor chuckled. "Yes, you most certainly do. Keeping Naruto from making an attempt on Itachi's life will be your responsibility. Can you handle him?"

Crossing her arms, Sakura stood up. "Yeah, I can. It won't be easy, but I got it covered."

Tsunade nodded, lips pursed. "Thank you. Don't blame him, would ya?"

Sakura could tell when she deep in thought, Tsunade usually slipped into casual dialect when she was mulling over potential scenarios with great concentration. "Who?"

"Itachi. He couldn't help what family he was born into. Cut him a bit of slack."

She shrugged. "I'll do my best."

"Good. You leave at dawn, I'm trusting you to break it to Naruto the details of the mission."

Sakura groaned. _Great, that's going to be just fucking fantastic._

She nodded, not trusting herself to say anything, and left quietly. She needed some time to think of the best way to tell Naruto that he was going to be under the command of the man who killed his best friend. _This is going to be interesting._


	5. Broken Trust

"Naruto! Hey, I need to talk to you!" Sakura called, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun.

She could hear muffled crashing followed by Naruto bursting out of the trees above her, pursued closely by Kiba. She groaned as they disappeared again, their motions blurring as they furiously dodged and parried each other's movements.

"Kiba, do me a favor and kick him down here?" She called reproachfully; annoyed that she couldn't get this over with as quickly as she'd hoped.

"Sakura, give me a second!" Naruto yelled, popping above the trees for a second before disappearing again. She heard muffled yelps, and Kiba flopped down on the ground below looking extremely out of breath.

Naruto jumped nimbly down beside him, and stuck out a hand. She waited patiently as they exchanged goodbyes, and brushed the dirt off their clothes. Finally Naruto made his way towards her; she mentally rehearsed her speech again.

"What's up?" He huffed, wiping sweat off his brow, and shrugging out of his jacket. She brandished a data scroll. "Tsunade-sama filled me in."

"Great! What're we in for?" He flopped down on the grass and caught the water bottle she tossed him, eyeing her expectantly.

"It's a really good one. You ever heard of a guy called Raiton when you were gone with Jiraiya-sama?" She was curious; he'd never really talked about his travels ever since his mentor passed away.

He thought for a moment, brow scrunched in concentration. "Nah, I don't think so. What's he in for?"

Sakura sat beside him, her stomach clenching. "He's supplying drugs and poison to Akatsuki, we're on a recovery mission. You're coming along because he's got a scroll sealed inside of him that we need. Obviously you're the expert on forbidden seals."

Naruto snickered, hand unconsciously straying to his belly. "Yeah, I agree. So he's dangerous, we're just supposed to go and get him then?"

"Basically, yes. We need to get him back here, mostly unharmed. The team has four members, so it'll be easier to go undetected. We're likely to encounter some resistance from Akatsuki but I think we can handle it."

Naruto nodded, drawing the water bottle up to his lips. "All sounds good to me. Who's on the team? Tsunade said she hadn't finalized the members yet."

Ignoring her better judgement, Sakura tried to be as nonchalant as possible. _Better get this over with._ She thought grimly.

"The two of us, Neji, and Itachi Uchiha make the team." She said in a rush, bracing herself for the explosion. She wasn't disappointed as he sprayed out the mouthful of water he was about to swallow.

" _What_ did you just say?!" He sputtered, wiping the water off his face and staring at her in disbelief.

She nodded, and shrugged her shoulders. "That was pretty much my reaction too. Tsunade wanted me to tell you, thought it would be better this way."

He stared straight ahead, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists. "Why the hell would the old lady put Sasuke's _murderer_ on our team?"

"Um, well he's got more experience, and he needs to get out of the village while his eyes finish healing…?" She trailed off as she saw the venom in his gaze. _There's really nothing I can say that will patch this argument._

"You're okay with this?" He growled, refusing to make eye contact. " _Why_ are you defending him? You and Kakashi-sensei are siding with him and the old lady. It's like you're buddies already."

Frowning, she crossed her arms. "That's not fair, Naruto. I don't like it any more than you do, but it's what we're stuck with. He's our squad leader, and you can quietly hate his guts but the mission has to be completed."

He shook his head fiercely, hair flying. "No. I'm not going if he's coming. There's nothing I'd like better than to avenge Sasuke, and the last thing I'll be doing is taking orders from _him_."

Annoyed at his childlike reaction, she stood up and glared at him. "Look, you don't have a choice. The orders come from the top. You're doing this whether you like it or not. If I have to suffer through it, so do you."

"I don't like it. So I'm not going." He stood and brushed past her, heading back towards town.

"You're seriously just going to walk away?" She rolled her eyes. "You're such a baby, we're not done here!"

"Yeah, we are. I'm gonna go talk some sense into the old lady!" He called over his shoulder, and she darted over and grabbed his arm.

"Sit down, and listen up. There's more. Itachi might not be the person you really want to kill." She hissed, turning her infamous death glare on him.

He wilted slightly, and deciding it was better not to argue he gingerly sat back down. "What the hell does that mean?" He growled, refusing to meet her gaze.

"Look, I know you and Sasuke just got back on speaking terms before he died, but there's a lot of really messed up stuff going on that we didn't know about." She flopped down next to him and sighed in frustration.

Naruto's brow creased, and he crossed his arms. "Well, yeah. The Uchiha've got loads of issues. What do you know?"

Sakura chuckled, despite herself. "You can say that again. I have some information that makes too much sense to ignore. Tsunade thought it was better if it came from me."

He finally made eye contact, and his eyes narrowed as he took in her stony expression. "Okay, I'm listening."

"Basically it boils down to the fact that Fugaku's probably going to lose the rest of his vision within the year. All of it will be gone, and for good unless he can get his hands on a healthy sharingan." She replied, playing with the blades of grass she'd twined around her fingers.

"What does that have to do with Sasuke?" Naruto chewed his lip in thought. "I don't get it."

"I don't think Sasuke was supposed to make it to the hospital. My money's on the fact that it's faster to get to Uchiha compound than the hospital from Itachi's apartment." She replied flatly.

"Yeah, I guess. But why wouldn't he go back to the compound?"

"Sasuke is, _was_ always clever. He must have known that if something went wrong he had a better chance of survival with the medic shinobi." She replied, slightly annoyed that he wasn't catching on.

"Well yeah, obviously his chances would be better." He shrugged.

"Think, Naruto. How easy would it be to subdue a poisoned, injured Sasuke? It's probably a hell of a lot easier than a healthy and _very_ pissed off one, right?"

Naruto was silent for a moment as he processed the information. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, you think Fugaku _wanted_ Sasuke dead?"

"Yeah, I do. It makes sense. I know he's been to see Tsunade five times in the last month to heal his eyes. It all fits together too well."

He shook his head. "Unbelievable. It's fucked up, wanting your son dead."

"Yeah, I know it's a lot to take in. The only problem is that we don't have any concrete proof, because we got to Sasuke before he did."

Naruto clenched his fists. "Well then all we know for sure is that Itachi killed him, whether Fugaku planned it or not my best friend is rotting in the ground. So I'm not going to let him get away with it."

Sakura shrugged. "I know, and I'm not saying he's innocent. Honestly, if his reputation's anything to go by, he's probably killed more people than the entirety of Konoha. But right now we just have to get through this mission. We might even be able to get more information from Itachi, who knows."

"To hell with that!" He stood up again, furiously brushing grass off his pants. "The old lady should be tearing apart Uchiha, and Itachi should be locked away. Dead would be even better."

"You know she's not going to listen to you. I'm not healing your injuries when she beats the shit out of you." Sakura groaned. "Besides, this is confidential. You can't tell anyone about this."

"Whatever, she should know that it's a stupid idea!" He stomped off towards town, hell bent on having his way.

 _Good luck with that._ Sakura shook her head in dismay, hoping fervently that Tsunade wouldn't cause any serious injuries she'd have to deal with.

"See you tomorrow at the bridge! We leave at dawn!" She called, watching him determinedly make his way to the Hokage tower.


	6. Ambush

_She was dreaming, she knew that at least. She couldn't open her eyes, her lids were too heavy. She could hear screaming and orders being barked. She knew, that voice didn't she? Opening her eyes fully, she saw the room spinning. She registered fluorescent lights whizzing past overhead and the cold smell of antiseptic spray. She was so dizzy and lightheaded that it was impossible to think. Dimly, she registered a face above hers._

 _Sakura frowned as she stared into Sasuke's dark eyes. He was yelling orders, she realised._

 _"Keep pressure off the collapsed lung, intubate the other one! We need to keep her breathing! Someone needs to notify the Hokage, there's a new blood transfusion jutsu-"_

 _He stopped dead as he took in her face, and realised who she was._

 _"S-Sakura?" He stammered, releasing the pressure on her leg wound. "Oh god, no this can't be happening-" He was interrupted by her coughing as her collapsed lung gave a painful spasm and blood spurted out of her arterial wound. "Shit, no, no, no don't you dare die on me!"_

 _She smiled weakly. "You're…alive…how-"She whispered, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth._

 _"No, Sakura! Save your energy, don't speak!" He grabbed her face between his blood-stained hands. "Don't give up on me!"_

 _She was confused. Why was he trying to save her life? It was her fault that he died. She should have stayed in the operating room, she should have tried harder. She shook her head sadly, and felt her breath hiss out of her lungs. "I'm… sorry." She wheezed. "I couldn't…save…you."_

 _He smirked, and suddenly she wasn't on the gurney anymore. They were standing in a field, near the training grounds. He was glaring at her, his arms crossed. "Oh Sakura, you were always so pathetic." He murmured. "You didn't even try, I died because of you."_

 _She stared at him in shock. "Sasuke, there was nothing I could do!"_

 _He shook his head. "You always were weak."_

She woke up with a start, covered in sweat. She realised when she took a deep shuddering breath that she was sobbing. It was nearly dawn, and she scrubbed her face furiously with the back of her hand. Breathing deeply to try and calm herself down, she stood up and walked to her tiny bathroom. Turning the water on as hot as it would go, she stepped under the stream.

Yawning hugely, Sakura made her way to the meeting spot an hour later. Her anxiety was burning a hole in her stomach. Her dream was burned into her mind, and she dreaded coming face to face with Itachi, and there was a small part of her that considered letting Naruto off the leash. But regardless of her personal issues with Itachi, the mission had to be completed.

Coming around a corner and spying the bridge, she set her face in what she hoped was a neutral expression and continued on. Neji waited for her already, his light eyes thoughtful as he surveyed his copy of the data scroll. Sakura sighed in relief; at least she wouldn't be alone with Itachi right off the bat.

She waved as she came within his normal sightline, pleased to see him. He smiled gently, turning his attention to her as she strode up to his vantage point on the bridge.

"Sakura, it's good to see you." His voice was quiet, even husky so early in the morning. She set her pack down and grinned. "You too, I'm glad you're coming." She chirped, hoisting herself to sit on the railing beside him.

"I assume this is the first you've heard of this Raiton fellow?" He mused, eyes scanning the information in front of him.

She nodded, watching as the information faded away into the parchment. "Yes, I can see why, though. If he's the one keeping the Akatsuki equipped then he's no pushover. Tsunade-sama mentioned that he's been on the move."

"That's our interception point then, that window's going to close quickly. We will need to leave soon if we're to make the rendezvous in time."

"That's why we're leaving now. Where's Uzumaki?"

Sakura's blood ran cold as she and Neji slowly turned to face the newcomer. Itachi stood there, calmly adjusting his wrist blades. She was unsettled taking in the sight of him for the first time since Sasuke's death, and she couldn't look him in the eye. Sasuke's eyes regarded her solemnly.

"No idea, last I saw him he was hell-bent on persuading the Hokage to let him off the mission." She replied coldly. "Sir."

"Hm, well from the looks of things she didn't see his side." He stated calmly, tilting his head slightly towards the forest. "Pity."

Sakura turned to look and almost laughed as Naruto dejectedly trudged towards them. He looked thoroughly chastised, the swelling on his cheek just barely noticeable. His conversation with the Hokage must have gone exactly the way she'd predicted; not well. She grinned at him, and then immediately felt a sharp pang as he ignored her, staring straight ahead. He stopped at the base of the bridge and turned his back to them.

Surprised, Neji glanced at Sakura. "It's very unlike him to ignore you like that, Sakura." He remarked softly, crossing his arms.

She shook her head. "He's not happy with me at the moment, he'll get over it. He's having a hard time with anything Uchiha, especially with Sasuke gone."

Neji nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "You know that we never saw eye to eye, but I'm sorry that you lost him. Although it's not clear what happened, can I ask?"

Sakura sighed and crossed her arms across her chest. "He was on a confidential solo mission. The target was too powerful and he was stabbed twice with his own katana. He bled out, that's really all there is to it. They never found the target, he vanished."

She was still surprised at how easily the lie fell from her lips, every time she told it. It certainly wasn't getting easier, but she had been able to put her feelings aside when everyone she knew asked her about it. "How does the truth compare to the rumours?"

He sighed. "Well, if you listened to them, Sasuke fell only after killing a thousand of the enemy's forces. The truth it seems is far more tragic."

Sakura sighed rigidly. "Yeah. How do you feel about Uchiha leading the mission?" She determinedly changed the subject.

Neji glanced at the captain, who was rolling up his data scroll. "I have to admit that I was surprised, although not altogether disappointed. He's going to make this mission a lot easier than it would have been otherwise."

Sakura smirked. "Humility, Neji? I'm shocked."

He shook his head, smiling gently. "Hardly. I would consider my kekkei genkai a strong advantage, in any situation. With two, this mission could be over with half the time and effort."

"I guess we'll see." She eyed Itachi making his way across the bridge towards them.

When he walked past her, slinging his pack over his shoulder, she made a split-second decision. "Can I have a word?"

He looked at her, surprised. She wouldn't look him straight in the eyes, so she fixed her gaze on his headband. He nodded.

Following her to the end of the bridge, she turned to see him waiting expectantly. "Okay, so I don't know if there's a delicate way to say this." She began. "For the sake of the mission-"

"How much do you know?" He interrupted.

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "About what?"

"My father, how much did the Hokage tell you?" He demanded, taking a step closer to her. She took a step back, eager to keep a distance between them.

"I know that he wanted Sasuke's sight, but now you have what he wants. I also know that he planned Sasuke's death, and now is probably pissed that he was cheated out of the new sharingan. Happy?"

He scowled at her attitude. "Hokage-sama informed me that you know, have you told Uzumaki?"

"Yeah, I did. It was the only thing I could come up with to try and stop him from trying to kill you." She snapped, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "I'm not even sure if that'll work."

"That information was confidential. I will have to report you to Hokage-sama." His tone was equally cold.

She stiffened, drew herself up to her full height and fixed him with her glare.

"Look, Uchiha. I'm not thrilled either about being stuck with you, but I know my duties. And that includes healing any damage you and Naruto inflict on each other." She said in a rush before she lost her nerve. "I don't want to deal with it, so I want your word that you won't provoke him. That's all I want from you."

He didn't flinch as she angrily retorted.

His expression softened slightly, he was taken aback by what she was asking. "Yes, well obviously I won't. The mission has nothing do with my personal feelings about Uzumaki."

"Good. I'll speak to Naruto as well." She huffed, turning away from him and making her way across the bridge to where he was standing. _That was a lot easier than I expected. I hate playing the peacekeeper; I was doing it between Naruto and Sasuke for so long-_

"What do you want?" Naruto was sulking, and rubbing his cheek where Tsunade had punched him. She shook her head, not bothering to hide her grin.

"That talk didn't go exactly as planned did it? Let me heal that for you before we leave." Ignoring his weak protests, she raised a hand to his cheek and pushed some healing chakra into the swelling. It receded instantly, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." He muttered.

"Yeah, don't mention it." She replied. "I spoke to Uchiha, and I know you're pissed at me but he gave me his word that he'll stay away from you."

"It's not him you should be afraid of." He growled in response, his eyes were following Itachi's every move.

"You're right. I'm afraid of Tsunade, and you should be too." She said lightly, tightening her headband. "You make a move on him, and comprise the mission and she really _will_ kill you."

"Haruno, if you're finished chatting we have a mission to start." The cool tone of Itachi's voice made her bristle.

"Yes, _sir_." She shot over her shoulder. Naruto's frown deepened and she pointed a stern finger at him. "You do anything to mess this up, never mind Tsunade, I'll kill you myself."

They took off immediately into the trees, Sakura purposefully positioning herself between Itachi and Naruto. She didn't like getting any closer to him than she had to, but given how the mission had already begun she was worried about the tension between the team members, never mind the target and Akatsuki threat.

They travelled in silence for several hours, all members constantly scanning the forest around them. As the sun reached its peak, Sakura suddenly sensed a huge burst of chakra ahead of them. "Stop!" She called, tapping down on a high branch. "Neji, you feel that?"

"Yeah, I did." He replied quietly, landing several branches away. "He's slightly out of my range, but I can tell he's got a lot of chakra to be dispelling so much at once."

Itachi was suddenly visible again, as he flew back from the front of their formation. "Something's ahead, huge amounts of chakra are being emitted; I'd say they're probably three miles ahead of us."

Naruto landed, and waved a hand nonchalantly. "So somebody's training in the forest, big deal."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, and pushing her own chakra into her feet began to scale to the top of her tree. "Hang on a second; I've felt something similar before."

Her teammates watched quietly as she made her way to the peak of the trunk. "Neji, are you feeling the different levels spread out over a small area? There was one large burst and now we're looking at six." She called below, sending out controlled tendrils of chakra around her. They vibrated as the chakra waves hit them, signalling her as a spider would sense a disturbance in her web.

"Yes. I think we have a situation here." Neji landed next to her, scanning the forest. "We either have a puppet master or a transportation jutsu. Very powerful either way, I suggest we move forward with a game plan."

Itachi dropped onto the branch beside her, and Sakura flinched. He ignored her. "They're moving fast, we need to get out of the trees!"

Naruto rolled his eyes as his teammates leapt to the forest floor. "I ain't movin', you guys are overreacting, there's four of us, what are they gonna do?"

Suddenly there was a flash of movement above him and he was thrown from the branch. He yelped and turned to face the shadowy figure that had attacked him. But the figure was too fast, and he received a powerful blow to the chest. Sakura heard his ribs crack, and he landed painfully on the ground thirty feet away. She could hear him struggle to catch his breath as his opponent landed lightly, and pulled out a katana. Her adrenaline kicked in. _He's in so much pain, can he even fight?_

Sakura started forward, intent on helping Naruto, but was stopped by Itachi's arm in front of her chest.

"Get off me!" She snapped. "I'm going to help him!"

"No, you're not. Look." He replied calmly. She glanced around her and her blood ran cold.

They were surrounded by dark figures; she hadn't even felt them get close. Their chakra signature had disappeared, and the figures were closing in on them.


	7. Survival

A/N: Okay, just a word of warning: things are going to get pretty graphic from here on out. Thanks for reading! :)

Falling into a crouch, Sakura whipped out a kunai and pivoted to put the three of them back to back. Neji surveyed the attackers calmly, his byakugan pulsing on his forehead. "They're shadow clones, Uchiha."

"I know," Itachi replied, his sharingan whirring to life. "Which one is the real one?"

"He's not in this group. But the chakra signature isn't far away. He has to be around here somewhere so he can keep producing them. "

"We need to eliminate him quickly, or we'll be here until one of us runs out of chakra," Itachi said over his shoulder, surveying the loose circle of clones around them. "Haruno, we're going to need you in this fight until we take enough of them down, be ready to fall back."

"Got it, I'll wait for your order. What about Naruto?" She replied, settling her kunai more firmly in her palm.

"He'll be fine, focus on the clones. Hyuuga, watch for the real one. I want him alive for questioning, understood?"

"I just need you to buy me some time," Neji replied, his byakugan searching the forest around them.

Sakura felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down her back. There was something about these clones that freaked her out. _Why aren't they attacking?_

They weren't moving, their katana glinting in the weak sun. Sakura saw out of the corner of her eye that Naruto had dispatched the clone that had attacked him, the puff of smoke disappearing into the air as a cold wind picked up. _How was he able to cloak the chakra signature of so many clones?_

"Naruto, are you okay?" She called, never taking her eyes off of the dark figures.

"Yeah!" He sprinted towards them, launching shuriken at the clones blocking his way.

"Uzumaki, don't-" Itachi shouted, but he was too late.

The clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, but when it cleared three more had appeared to replace them. In unison, the clones started to attack, as if on cue. _They were waiting for us to make a move!_

Sakura ducked to avoid a swift katana strike aimed for her jugular and smoothly transitioned into a spinning roundhouse kick with chakra charged legs. The clone disappeared and she gasped as another blade came thrusting out of the smoke, and she twisted just in time to avoid it. She threw her kunai, and her blood ran cold as she realised just how easily she might have just died. _Holy shit!_ _This guy's good!_

They fought in silence for several long minutes, Naruto joining their formation seamlessly. The clones just kept coming; every time they killed one another would replace it. _There are so many of them!_

The clearing filled with smoke as they killed more and more opponents, making it difficult to gauge how many clones were closing in. Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura could see that Naruto was struggling to breathe, and he kept one hand on his chest. _Ribs, they're probably cracked from the fall. If one of them pierces a lung, he's in trouble._

"Uchiha, I need to heal Naruto's injuries, cover me!"

Sakura switched places with Neji and got to work healing Naruto's ribs. It turned out that he'd broken four of them on one side, three on the other.

She often had to stop to defend herself, killing one clone after another with Itachi's help until she could spare a minute to heal a rib. It was slow, dangerous work. One slip and the bone shards would slide straight into his lungs, but she gritted her teeth and stubbornly refused to lose focus. Finally, his bones knit together and the team resumed their former positions. In the heat of battle, she was only awarded enough time to heal the bones. _I'll deal with the bruising later._

"Thanks, Sakura." Naruto flashed a grin at her. "Good as new!"

She grinned back, wiping the sweat off of her brow. "Just like old times, hey? I can't even remember the last time we fought together, team seven's back together-"

"Focus, Haruno. We have twenty more incoming." Itachi interrupted her, brushing past her to put her at the back of the group. "I can't afford to have our medic distracted. Fall back."

Annoyed, she opened her mouth to argue. "I wasn't-"

She broke off as Neji suddenly glanced up into the tree canopy. "I found the shinobi."

"Go Hyuuga." Itachi hadn't broken a sweat, and he wasn't even breathing hard as he killed another clone with a single katana strike. "Take Uzumaki with you."

Naruto bristled, but catching Sakura's eye, decided it was better not to argue. He shrugged and addressed Neji instead. "Let's go get this bastard, Neji."

Sakura couldn't help but notice that he ignored Itachi completely. _Oh well, it's better than picking a fight._

"I intend to. Uchiha, we'll drive him towards you if we don't succeed in an ambush." Neji was already moving, Naruto right behind him.

They rapidly ascended a large tree trunk and disappeared into the tree canopy. Sakura and Itachi were left alone to eliminate the remaining clones. Breathing hard, Sakura waited for the right moment to strike as many clones as possible.

"Uchiha, you're going to want to move!" She strafed backwards and gathered chakra into her right fist. He glanced over his shoulder at her as he gracefully dodged a katana strike. "Stay out of this fight, Haruno. Save your chakra."

Reluctantly, she reabsorbed her chakra. "There's too many of them! We're going to get ourselves killed." She snapped over her shoulder, throwing kunai instead. _I'm not dying because of his Uchiha pride!_

He chuckled quietly, continuing his relentless assault on the remaining shadow clones. "Your concern really isn't necessary. Look around."

The smoke finally cleared, and she realised that they were alone. She stood in silence, in awe of him, despite herself. The clearing had been filled with clones the last time she'd checked, but in a matter of minutes, he'd destroyed their ranks.

"Oh." She muttered sheepishly. Her anger dissipated, and she wiped the sweat from her brow. "Look at that."

"Hyuuga stopped him from making any more." Still chuckling, he finally turned to face her. "Uzumaki probably just yelled at him."

She laughed. "Yeah, he does that. How'd you know?"

"I make it my business to know who's on my team, and he's predictable. You already knew that I'm sure, considering you were on the same team."

Suddenly he was serious again. His mirth had disappeared, and she immediately averted her eyes from his face; painfully aware of the irony of the situation.

Her momentary joy at team seven's reunion was gone, and a sharp pang of loss had replaced it. They were finally together again, but somehow she didn't think Sasuke's eyes counted. She knew she was being rude, but to his credit Itachi didn't acknowledge her uneasiness.

She was almost relieved when he ignored her completely. He sheathed his katana and crossed his arms. The forest was silent around them, but Sakura didn't let her guard down. They stood there without speaking for several moments, Itachi looked pensive.

"Should we catch up with them?" Sakura asked suddenly, she was getting twitchy from the awkward silence. "Wouldn't they be back by now if they were able to catch him?"

"Yeah, let's go." He scaled the nearest tree, with her following a short distance behind. They sped through the canopy, ready for battle at any moment. Sakura could have cut the tension with a knife _. I don't like having Naruto out of my sight._ _Why am I so afraid?_

"Haruno, who knows about this mission?" Itachi asked suddenly, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"Besides us? The Hokage and Anbu administration know, but beyond them, I'm not sure. Why do you ask?"

"Did you tell anyone about it? Did you mention anything at all?"

Sakura was deeply offended. _Is he accusing me of betraying Tsunade?_

"No, the only people I discussed it with were the Hokage and Naruto. What are you getting at?" She said, clipping every word to convey her anger.

"Relax, Haruno. I'm not accusing you of anything." He sounded impatient, annoyed that she'd snapped at him. "I find it strange that we've barely been on this mission for half a day and we're already being attacked."

He was staring straight ahead, his eyes narrowed "Someone either wants to sabotage our chances of intercepting Raiton, or they're after something else. The timing's too convenient."

Raising an eyebrow, Sakura was surprised to find that she agreed with him. "Why do I get the feeling that you mean they're after _someone_ , not something?"

"Exactly, someone is right."

"Fugaku doesn't strike me as the type who would send an assassin after you again, not after what happened with the last one." She deliberately avoided using Sasuke's name.

He smirked. "Not that I wouldn't put it past my father, but I meant Uzumaki. Akatsuki have been known to attempt to capture biju. We're pretty isolated out here."

"Oh. Yeah, of course, you're right." Sakura flushed, embarrassed that she'd assumed he was talking about himself. He definitely confused her, with his odd formality one moment and random flashes of mirth the next. "We'll see when we catch up to them what we're dealing with."

"Yeah, there's no use speculating." He was parallel to her now, on the next branch over. "But if my father does decide to attack me, I'll handle it. It's better if you don't get involved."

She shook her head. "It's no use; he definitely knows that I was in the operating room with Sasuke. I'm involved no matter what. I'm not a fan of the situation, but I can handle myself."

"Not against Uchiha." He murmured, quiet but forceful. She flinched at his tone, suddenly reminded of Sasuke.

"Of course, I forgot how pitiful we all are compared to the Uchiha." She muttered.

Her voice was surprisingly steady, but her tone was filled with so much venom that she even surprised herself. _Whoa, where did that come from?_

"That's not what I meant."

Sakura was suddenly ashamed that she was letting her personal feelings get the best of her. He was her squad captain; he commanded respect. _Don't be childish, Sakura._

"Uchiha-"

Before she could apologize, he pointed to a clearing up ahead. "There they are, keep your guard up."

They landed on a branch, and he held out a hand for her to wait. He then reached into his pack and pulled out an ANBU mask, and after settling it over his face he nodded at Sakura. "Best we don't sneak up on them."

"Yeah." She replied. She didn't see any signs of fighting, and she nearly sagged with relief as Naruto walked into view. They took off towards the clearing without another word.

"Naruto, what happened?" Sakura called when they were within earshot.

They dropped from the treetops, landing by their teammates. Naruto glared at Itachi, but Sakura couldn't see any outward reaction from the Uchiha.

"Hey, Sakura! What took so long?" Naruto grinned, ruffling his hair up. "We were waiting for ya!"

"Apologies, Uchiha." Neji sighed, gesturing at the hog-tied assassin at his feet. "He was troublesome, took us an unnecessarily long time to knock him out."

Itachi inspected the assassin, eyes thoughtful. "Did you manage to catch him by surprise?"

"Yes, but his reaction time was impressive. He had some unusual speed for someone who'd already expended so much chakra. Naruto had to produce clones to trap him."

Itachi took off his mask; there was no need for anonymity when the target was unconscious. He inspected the still body on the ground, taking note of the large head wound that was visibly swollen on the right side. "Uzumaki hit him too hard; I don't want Haruno to waste any chakra healing him."

"He'll be fine; you don't know what you're talking about!" Naruto retorted, avoiding Sakura's glare.

Itachi ignored him and turned to Sakura. "How much time do we have before he wakes up?"

She stepped closer and inspected the wound up close. Prodding gently, she could feel his bone shifting slightly, puckered out from the pressure on his brain. _He's got a broken skull, plus major_ _swelling in the frontal cortex. I'll need to bore into the skull to relieve the pressure._

"Hm, if he wakes up at all. He's got some severe brain swelling. I'll relieve the pressure, but that's about all I can do at this point. We should wait for a couple of hours, and if he doesn't wake up on his own, I'll have to intervene to prevent any further brain damage." She replied, already rummaging through her medical pouch for a large bore needle.

"I sort of kicked him in the head when he was running away, and he hit the ground pretty hard," Naruto said sheepishly, fiddling with his jacket zipper. "Sorry, Sakura."

Sakura sighed. "It's okay, Naruto. He'll be fine for now."

"How much chakra does he have left? I don't want any surprises when we wake him up. Given how much chakra he was using when we sensed his jutsu, I'd prefer him to be defenseless." Itachi started pacing, his expression unreadable.

"I've disabled his chakra points; we shouldn't have any further issues with his ninjutsu," Neji replied, settling into a comfortable position on the ground. He concentrated for a moment, his byakugan moving ever so slightly. "There's minimal movement in his chakra streams, he's not going to be a danger to us."

Sakura spread out a canvas sheet and lay the shinobi down, the bore needle in her hand. "With this much brain damage, I'm not ever sure if he'll be able to talk. Hand signals are definitely out."

"Can you heal the damage?" Itachi asked, finally he'd stopped pacing and was watching her with interest.

"Probably, I need to take a closer look, though. Naruto, can you find me a rock? Preferably a smooth one, I don't want it to chip."

"Yeah, a big one?" He replied, bending over to help her move the assassin into a more stable position. They adjusted the ropes on his bindings so that he was no longer bowed, but could lie flat.

"Probably about five pounds, I need to use it as a hammer for his skull."

Naruto paled, staring at her in horror. "A h-hammer?"

She laughed, inspecting the skull for the best entry point to prise off a piece of bone. "Yes, a hammer. I need to take a flap of his bone out so I can heal the swelling. I don't have a drill, so a rock is going to have to do."

Naruto stood up suddenly, looking very green. "Coming right up." He wasn't quite out of earshot, and Sakura could hear him muttering away to himself.

"Ugh, that's so _gross_!

She couldn't help it, she giggled as she watched him frog-march out of the clearing. Itachi crouched down near her, and she ignored him as best she could. Preparing for surgery was always stressful and time-consuming, the last thing she needed was the added pressure of someone watching her every move.

"What, Uchiha?" She finally couldn't stand it anymore, she looked up from her inspection of the head wound and glared defiantly at him.

"Hn?" He'd been so focused on what she was doing that the sudden question had surprised him.

"You have questions." She returned to shaving the assassin's head, the wound was slowly becoming more visible. She tsked, surveying the damage that had been hidden by the shinobi's thick hair. _The right half of his head is nearly crushed. Thanks a lot, Naruto._

"Have you done this before?"

"Nope." She didn't even have to look at him to know that his eyes had widened in shock.

"You've never performed this procedure, and you're choosing _now_ to experiment?" He nearly growled at her, standing up and crossing his arms.

"I've done it before, just not in these conditions. Do you want him alive and able to answer questions or not?" She replied peevishly. "Tsunade gave you an assessment of my abilities, right?"

"Yes." He snapped. "But nowhere did she mention that you like to take chances in the field."

"Why do you think she chose me for this mission?" She snapped back, losing her patience. "I do what needs to be done, and if I wasn't here to make this call you would have a dead rogue shinobi on your hands and more questions than answers!"

He glared at her. "If you kill him, his blood is on your hands."

"Fine, go on and report me if that happens. In the meantime, how well do you know pressure points?" She continued, glossing over their argument as she went into full on medic mode. _I'm running out of time._

He seemed slightly taken aback, and as he crouched down near her, she noticed that he was back to his normal, expressionless self. "I know some of them, although Hyuuga is far more qualified than I am."

"The problem is that I need both of you to help. I need the two of you to hit four pressure points to alleviate the pain. The problem is that he might have a physical reaction when I start cracking his skull open."

"He might?" Itachi raised an eyebrow, looking faintly amused.

"Depends on how much damage he sustained to his spinal cord. His body might freak out and start trashing; if I move even a millimetre off trajectory, he's dead."

"And if his spinal cord is completely severed, he feels nothing."

"Exactly." She was digging around in her pack and came out with what appeared to be four silver thimbles. "These can help with the channeling of focused chakra, I need you guys to hit the pressure points with as steady a chakra stream as you can."

Neji, who had remained silent through this entire exchange, finally spoke up. "I know which ones you're referring to. It shouldn't be a problem to sustain the pressure, with the two of us. What about Naruto?"

It was Itachi who replied. "He'll keep watch. We can't be out in the open without someone to alert us to danger. I doubt this guy was working alone."

"I agree. How long will this procedure take, Sakura?"

She sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Hopefully no longer than an hour, two at most."

Itachi nodded. "We'll get started as soon as Uzumaki returns, if you're ready, Haruno?"

"Yeah, I'm good. This is going to be extremely gross, just warning you now." She was grim, aware that even the most hardened shinobi could have an extreme reaction to visible brain matter.

"Won't be a problem." Itachi knelt down beside her; taking the two thimbles that Sakura offered him. "Where are the pressure points?"

"Here and here." She showed him, they lay six inches apart on the inner arm. Neji nodded, she wasn't worried about him being able to find them. The tricky part would be to keep the pressure steady, and not waver until she was inside the skull. _The brain doesn't contain any nerves, but I'm going to need them for the replacement of the skull and skin._

She saw Naruto returning, and a trickle of anxiety entered her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself and reached out for the rock Naruto handed her. _You can do this, Tsunade chose you for a reason._ She told herself sternly, forcing her uneasiness away and concentrating on the task at hand.

"Uzumaki, you're on guard duty. " Itachi said bluntly. "This may take a while; alert us if you need to switch out."

"Whatever, it's not like I wanted in on a surgery." He pouted, and Sakura chuckled.

"If we get another chance, you can help." She promised, hoping she wouldn't have to make good on that statement. "Thanks for the rock!"

Glancing at the giant needle in her hand, and back to the skull, Naruto was looking extremely grossed out. Sakura wouldn't be surprised if he was fighting the urge to gag. "Yeah sure, whatever you say."

He pulled out a kunai and settled on a nearby tree stump, scanning the forest.

"Okay, let's get started. Pressure points activated now, please. " She heard herself say, as she placed the needle on the top of the skull. She brought the rock down on the blunt end with the tiniest amount of force she could manage.

The sound of bone cracking echoed through the clearing.


	8. Pawn

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for your patience! :)**

Getting into the skull was the easy part; it was the intricate work that lay ahead that was making her nervous. Tapping gently around the crushed area of the skull, she started to gently remove the shards. Once she'd cleared most of the bone from around the cavity, she shaped her chakra into a jagged edge.

Working feverishly, she shaved the edges of the incision, removing any shards of bone that would damage the tissue further. Catching the bone dust in her hand, she gently deposited it into a small bag. Manipulating her chakra into a sphere, she then placed pressure on the brain tissue.

"Okay, you can stop with the pressure points." She began to line up the bone fragments in order on a small piece of canvas beside her. "This is when it gets hard; I need you to be ready to press them again if something goes wrong."

"If something goes wrong?" Itachi didn't sound suspicious for once, only curious.

"I'm using my chakra to keep the brain in place, but the second I take it away it's going to balloon out of the cavity. I'm going to reverse his chakra flow so that there isn't going to be any clotting or bleeding that I have to worry about. But if I can't get the blood flowing again, I'm going to have to manually pump his heart until his body can get oxygen."

"You're going to crack open his chest, in the middle of the forest?" Neji sounded faintly amused.

"Not if I can avoid it. Can you watch his pathways and let me know when they slow down and change direction? I'm basically putting his chakra and blood on a bypass."

"Yes, I'll let you know. But won't that kill him?"

"No, the issue with this sort of thing is that the brain can't survive without oxygen. I'm literally inside the brain right now, so I can pump oxygen in with enough chakra to force it through the bloodstream, keeping his organs from shutting down."

"Interesting. Tsunade-sama certainly taught you well." Neji awarded her with a rare smile.

"We'll see. You can say that if I get this right. Uchiha, you'll be looking at his eyes." She opened the shinobi's eyelids with her free hand and motioned for Itachi to move closer.

"They're lovely." He remarked dryly, smirking as he adjusted his position. _How ironic._

She smiled slightly but pulled her focus back to the task at hand. "I have a flashlight in my pack; I need you to check to make sure that he has a pupillary response. If there's still an issue with the brain they won't dilate."

"If they don't respond, he's useless to us," Itachi said flatly, settling into a comfortable position.

She felt a flash of annoyance at his disregard for the shinobi's life.

"Yeah, he's brain-dead if that happens. I don't know how long this is going to take, but I'll do my best."

"Good, it's your call as to when you think you can stop. If it's no good, don't waste your chakra." He murmured, looking up at her through his bangs.

"I'll keep you posted."

She settled back into her position and took a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to get started on the swelling."

Sakura slowly removed her hand from the skull cavity and watched as the brain began to swell out of the hole as the pressure was released. He heard Itachi suck in his breath in surprise as the brain expanded like a balloon.

"Incredible." He murmured, almost too quietly for her to hear.

Surprised at the size of the swelling, Sakura had to force down the tidal wave of nausea that threatened to engulf her as the smell of brain matter reached her nostrils.

"You're going to want to avoid breathing through your nose." She said flatly.

Neji peered at the top of the shinobi's head, his byakugan pulsing on his forehead. "Whenever you're ready, Sakura."

She nodded, and placed her hands above the skull, encircling the swollen tissue. Closing her eyes, she reached into the chakra pathways in the head above the brow bone. Finding the right junction, she pushed her chakra into the nodes that lined the stream. Immediately she began to sweat as the chakra stream remained resistant to her gentle probing. _I shouldn't have this much trouble._

Probing deeper, she found the source of the issue. The shinobi's chakra signature was opposite to her own, it was no wonder that his body was resisting an intruder.

Stubbornly, she pushed harder and felt a flicker of triumph as she entered into his pathway. Focusing all of her mental efforts, she hardened her chakra and _pushed._ Immediately, she could feel it working as her chakra no longer met any resistance. She twisted now, jerking her wrists in the opposite direction, stopping the chakra flow in its tracks.

"How's the flow, Neji?" She was breathing hard already; the amount of effort it took to control two opposing kinds of chakra was staggering.

"They aren't moving anymore," Neji said, settling back on his heels.

"Good."

From Naruto's point of view, Sakura just looked like she was waving her hands around. Examining her hands a little closer, he realised what she was working on. His stomach turning, he quickly looked away. _Ugh, give me blood and guts any day._

His gaze settled once more on Itachi, and he felt a flash of intense dislike. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he willed himself to calm down. Given his last conversation with Tsunade, he knew now that his anger wasn't exclusive to Itachi. He was disappointed in himself, for being so blind as to miss what was happening with the Uchiha clan. He couldn't help but blame himself for Sasuke's death. _If I'd just tried harder to be his friend, he wouldn't have left us in the first place._

He had to rise above his feelings about Itachi if he wanted to protect the people he loved. There were fewer and fewer of them left as he got older, and he'd be damned if he let anything happen to his best friend. Glancing once more at Sakura, he recalled the previous night's confrontation. He was bursting at the seams; he didn't like keeping secrets from her. He mulled over his new information, regretting the promise he'd made to Tsunade.

 **17 Hours Previously:**

 _He slammed the door to the Hokage's office open, a protesting Shizune hot on his heels._

 _"What the hell do you think you're playing at, Tsunade?!" He roared, realising too late that the office was empty. "Oh. Where'd she go?"_

 _"You're so out of line, you're lucky she wasn't in here! Seriously, Naruto, you're so disrespectful!"_

 _Shizune's hand shot out and she grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "You can't just waltz in here and scream at the Hokage! She'll probably murder you!"_

" _Ow! Shizune, cut it out!" He struggled, and finally wrenched himself free of her grip. "I have to talk to her, she can't make me go-"_

 _"Shut up, both of you, all this yelling is making my head hurt." Tsunade's reproachful tone made both of them freeze. Slowly, they turned to see her entering the tower from the stairwell door._

 _They both stared at her for a long time, until she brandished the bottle she was holding. "Sake is the only thing that'll fix my hangover."_

 _She strode past them, and Naruto glanced at Shizune, eyebrow raised. She shrugged, stepping away from him and making her way back to her desk. Tsunade paused as she opened the door to her office. "Come on, let's get this over with. Get in here."_

 _Naruto followed her inside, and she gestured for him to sit down in the chair in front of her desk as she rummaged around in a drawer._

 _"Sit." Tsunade clattered around and finally produced two drinking cups._

 _He sat, and she placed a small cup in front of him, filling it to the brim with alcohol._

 _"No thanks." He said stiffly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair._

 _"Trust me; you're going to want a drink after this conversation." She raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a knowing look as she filled her own cup._

 _They drank in silence for a few moments, the burning liquid settling comfortably in Naruto's stomach._

 _It was Tsunade who spoke first. "So, why were you trying to break down my office door?"_

 _Emboldened by the sake, he didn't bother to choose his words carefully._

" _I came here to tell you that I won't play your little game." Naruto knew he sounded childish, but he pressed on. "You're crazy. Itachi is going to regret it if we're on a mission together."_

 _Tsunade paused, her cup halfway to her mouth, and her steely blue eyes fixed him with a glare so cold that he wilted slightly. "You idiot."_

 _She spoke quietly, but her tone sent a cold shiver down his spine. "You couldn't kill Itachi, and we both know it." There was a hint of mirth in her tone, and that sent Naruto over the edge of fury._

 _"What the fuck do you know?!" He hissed, slamming his cup down on her desk so hard that it shattered, spraying them both with sake._

 _He sprang to his feet, pointing angrily at her. "You sit up here in this office and pretend that nothing is wrong! I'm sick of it; you don't care about anything but yourself!"_

 _She didn't flinch but continued to regard him with a disapproving stare. "Sit down."_

 _"No! You don't understand anything! My best friend is dead because of him-"_

 _"You think I don't understand?" She leapt to her feet, drawing herself up to her full height._

 _"Orochimaru murdered the man who was like a father to me; do you think I've forgotten how Sarutobi died?"_

 _She was yelling right back at him now, and he noticed the glistening of angry tears in her eyes before she turned away and sat back down in her armchair. "Naruto, do you honestly think that you're the only one in pain? Have you even considered how Sakura feels?"_

 _That shut Naruto up, and he looked at her helplessly as she sighed and refilled her cup. "It's pointless to focus on revenge, at least for the moment. You've got bigger problems to deal with."_

 _Slowly, his flash of anger dissipating, Naruto sat back down. "Okay, so what should I be focused on?"_

 _"Sakura told you my suspicions about Sasuke's death, didn't she?"_

 _"Yeah, she said something about how Fugaku planned for Sasuke to die. You don't actually think that's true, do you?"_

 _Something in her grim expression answered his question. "You've got to be kidding me."_

 _"I wish I were." She replied, shaking her head. "It's likely, knowing him."_

 _"Fugaku isn't that stupid, and Sasuke was his favorite son."_

 _"But Sasuke couldn't be his heir as long as Itachi was alive, he was never publicly disowned. Either Fugaku would be able to rid himself of Itachi via assassination, or he took advantage of a wounded, poisoned Sasuke who failed to kill Itachi. If Sasuke died in the Uchiha compound, it would be the excuse he needed to get rid of Itachi."_

 _"Okay, but he and Itachi were estranged, how would that work?"_

 _"He could claim the body, as is his fatherly right, and take the eyes, no matter which son it was. It's a brilliant plan." Tsunade admitted grudgingly, crossing her arms._

 _For once, Naruto had nothing to say. "But Sasuke died here."_

 _"Yes, he did, meaning that the chance to awaken an eternal mangekyou is gone. That's what Fugaku needed."_

 _"So how do you know that he needs it?"_

 _"He comes to see me several times a month; he's got maybe a half a year before he goes completely blind. That's a generous estimate."_

 _Naruto knew that both Sasuke and Itachi had awakened the mangekyou. He wasn't sure how Itachi had done it, but Sasuke had witnessed the grisly death of his mother shortly before he'd left the team._

 _"Did Fugaku awaken Sasuke's mangekyou on purpose?" He asked bluntly, he couldn't shake a gut feeling that he already knew the answer to his question._

 _"That's not something I wanted to investigate. To answer your question, yes. But he did love his wife, so I don't know." Tsunade mused, tapping her chin with one finger. "It would make sense, though, he may have arranged for something to happen to her."_

 _"It isn't out of character then." Naruto was shaking his head, finally realising that the situation was very serious._

 _"Not at all, you hit the nail on the head. I didn't know you had it in you to be so observant, kid." She smirked, her eyebrows raised over the rim of her cup as she drank deeply._

 _He felt a flash of pride, and he sat up a little straighter. "It doesn't change how I feel about Itachi, but you were right. There's far more going on here."_

 _"It gets worse. We found the body of Shisui Uchiha washed up on the west river bank last night. He didn't have any eyes, Naruto."_

 _Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Shisui? I thought he was still in Suna?"_

 _"So did I, although apparently, he got back two days ago. And then he shows up dead, it can only mean one thing."_

 _"Sasuke hated him, so I really don't know much about the guy."_

 _"He was very close to Itachi when they were children. It would have been easier for Sasuke to go after Shisui than Itachi, but Itachi was the better target. Proximity wise, as well as his sharingan abilities, he was ideal."_

 _"Yeah, okay." Naruto was fighting to keep his curiosity in check, knowing that she would explain why she was being so cryptic when the moment was right._

 _She sighed, and moved out of her chair, closing all of the blinds to her office windows. Finally settling back down, she pulled a large file folder out of her desk and handed it to Naruto._

 _"It contains all of the information we have on the sharingan users currently living in the land of Fire. There are some interesting patterns that emerge when you compare it with our death records. The Uchiha survival rate is alarmingly low among the shinobi population."_

 _"I'm not sure what you're getting at." Naruto shrugged, and opened the folder, scanning the pages as she talked._

 _"Look at the numbers. Out of every hundred Uchiha shinobi, only seventeen of them are over the age of fifty-five. That means that eighty-three percent of their generation died well before their life expectancy. The ones that do live, are oddly powerful, and make up our police, ANBU, and military forces. That's incredibly low, even when you factor in the numbers of non-Uchiha that die in the shinobi population."_

 _"You think they're killing each other for sharingan transferral?"_

 _"Yes. The thing is, the sharingan transferral is a tricky process, and it's got a lot of very specific criteria in order for it to work."_

 _"I know the basics. They have to be a family member, right?" His mind was whirring, putting all of the pieces into place. "Fugaku had two sons with powerful sharingan abilities, so why is Shisui mixed up in this?"_

 _"For some reason, it also seems to account for the immediate extended family as well. Shisui is Fugaku's nephew, the son of his brother."_

 _"This is insane, you think that since Fugaku's going blind, he plotted for his heir to die and then when it didn't work he killed his nephew."_

 _"Well, his brother is already dead. Shisui was his favorite nephew; they've worked closely over the years on a lot of missions." She continued, pulling out another large file folder. "Fugaku has a lot to lose, he's the chief of our police force, and he's the head of a clan with a powerful kekkei genkai. He's desperate for a foothold on his power."_

 _"Still, this is so nuts. Where does the mission fit into all of this?"_

 _"I told Sakura that she was going along to keep an eye on you, but that wasn't exactly true." Tsunade looked at him very directly, making him a little bit nervous._

 _"Huh?" Naruto scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"_

 _"I'm sending you to protect Sakura, and by extension, Sasuke's eyes." She swigged the rest of her drink and poured herself yet another refill._

 _He was speechless; for once he had nothing to say. His mouth hung open in shock, making him look about five years old. Tsunade would never admit it, but she was fond of him. Therefore, he was someone that she could count on; she had to trust that he could carry out the task ahead of him._

 _"You have more chakra than anyone I know, plus you have some experience sparring with Uchiha. You know what they're capable of. I have it on good authority that Raiton is an Uchiha operative, which has to stay between the two of us." She pointed a stern finger at him, her eyes steely. "You're responsible for making sure that nothing happens to Sakura."_

 _"Are you expecting trouble from the Uchiha? She doesn't know about this, right?"_

 _"She can't know, otherwise, it'll compromise her ability to be an objective medic on the mission. Yes, they'll likely be coming for Itachi, but she'll be in the line of fire."_

 _"Holy shit. I can't tell her about any of this?"_

 _"Nothing whatsoever, and Itachi doesn't know that Shisui is dead either. I'd like to be the one to tell him. I want your word as a shinobi that you will keep this information to yourself." She was completely serious, he hadn't realised the stakes of the situation until that exact moment. She took advantage of the silence to pour another drink._

 _"Okay, I give you my word." He muttered, waving a hand in her direction. "You gonna drink all of that by yourself?"_

 _She smirked and then placed another cup in front of him after digging in her desk for a moment. He raised his eyebrows at the small tower of them she appeared to keep handy._

 _"What? I break a lot of them when I'm drunk." She grunted at him. "There's one more thing you should know."_

 _"I'm sure it won't surprise me at this point." He replied, leaning back in his chair._

 _"Sasuke's grave was disturbed two weeks after his burial."_

 _"What?! " Naruto was incredulous, and he sprang up from the chair. Starting to pace, he glared accusingly at Tsunade. "Why didn't you say anything?"_

 _"Because you'd make a fuss, that's why. I left a failsafe in place; I knew something like this was going to happen. I implanted a pair of eyes back into Sasuke's body, the same colour as his natural eyes."_

 _"They're gone, aren't they?" His blood was boiling, and he clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration. "You buried him with eyes so that Fugaku would think that you didn't touch his sharingan."_

 _"Exactly, he couldn't demand the body be disturbed immediately. It would have looked too suspicious."_

 _"So, Fugaku now knows that you're protecting Itachi."_

 _"Yes. I need you to stop Raiton at all costs. We need to cut the Uchiha's legs out from under them; their extra income will disappear if he isn't selling drugs and information."_

 _"He's the one who got them the poison for Sasuke's katana then. Do you think they're planning another coup attempt?"_

 _"Yeah, I do. I need Sasuke's eyes out of the village, and Sakura will be a target because she knows everything about his death. Plus she's close to me, so she's very dangerous to Fugaku."_

 _"I'll stop him. I'll do whatever it takes." He shook his head. "I won't let anything happen to her."_

 _"Good." Tsunade leaned back in her chair, satisfied. "Now get over here."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"I'm gonna need to hit ya. Otherwise, Sakura is gonna suspect something."_

 _"Oh, yeah that makes sense. Are you drunk?"_

 _"You betcha." She replied, starting to slur slightly as she finished off what must have been her tenth cup of sake._

 _"Can you go easy on me?"_

 _"Nope."_

 _Naruto sighed and braced himself._

 **Present Time:**

Sweat dripped down the back of Sakura's neck. She allowed herself a second to relax as the swelling in the brain started to recede, finally resuming the original brain shape. She was exhausted from the intricate work of healing the damage while keeping the assassin alive. "I'm done! How do the pupils look?"

"Good, they're responding," Itachi replied, clicking off the flashlight.

"Chakra pathways doing okay?"

"They're moving normally," Neji replied, peering over to look.

"Perfect. I'm just going to heal the skull and then we just have to wait for him to wake up."

She picked up the skull fragments that she'd set out earlier and began to fuse them together. "Pressure points activated please."

She paused for a moment and then continued healing the skull. The bones knit together smoothly, and she made sure to rearrange the skin and hair back over the crown.

Finally finished, she glanced up at the sun, stretching out the stiffness in her neck. "What time is it?"

"It took about five hours." Neji supplied, removing his fingers from the chakra points. "It's nearly sundown, perhaps we should make camp."

"Ugh, I didn't realise that it would take so long. Thanks, both of you, for your help." She replied, still inspecting the stitches she'd just sewed.

Twining a white bandage around the shinobi's head, she tied it off and eased his head off of her lap. Making a mental note to change her clothes, she stood on shaky legs and stretched.

"I don't like being so out in the open, is there any chance we can move him?" Itachi glanced at Sakura, eyebrows raised.

She sighed. "I don't think it's a good idea. Maybe if there was a good spot within a mile, but otherwise here would be best."

He nodded, then stood and cracked his knuckles. "I'll take a look around. In the meantime, hold off setting up camp until I get back."

Sakura nodded, wiping the sweat off of her forehead and watched as he took his ANBU mask from his pack and disappeared into the forest. "Hey Naruto, we're done!"

"Finally!" Naruto got up from his post and stretched, yawning hugely. "I'm starving, are we setting up camp?"

She noticed that he avoided making eye contact, and marked it up to the fact that he'd just seen a man's brain for the first time. Sakura could remember the shock of her first brain surgery; she was still a little grossed out by what she'd just done. _Ugh, I hate operating out in the field. A bore needle as a drill bit? Sakura, that's barbaric._

She didn't know that he was bursting at the seams to tell her all that he knew. Naruto understood why Tsunade trusted him, but he wasn't sure how it would help Sakura to keep her ignorant. He waited impatiently for Tsunade's signal; she'd promised him a hawk message when the time was right to reveal his information.

"Just waiting for Uchiha to get back, you can help yourself to the food in my pack if you want." Neji stood, and brushed the dirt off of his knees, indicating with a head tilt the direction their squad leader had gone.

"Sweet!" Naruto flopped down next to them and examined the still unconscious shinobi. "Yikes, that's a pretty impressive scar he's going to have."

Sakura laughed, shaking her head. "His hair will grow out to cover most of it."

"If I let him live, there's no guarantee of that." Itachi's voice sounded right behind them, making them both jump out of their skin.

"Don't sneak up on us like that!" Sakura scolded, shaking the adrenaline out of her arms and reabsorbing the chakra she'd pushed into her fist. She didn't like surprises, and she'd barely managed to pull her punch. "I could have hurt you!"

"Doubtful." He replied, finally removing his mask.

Neji chuckled, nodding at Itachi in greeting. "You didn't feel his chakra signature when he returned? Naruto, you're getting lazy."

"Shut up!"

Sakura ignored their bickering and turned back to Itachi. "So did you find anything?"

"No, this is the most defensible spot for several miles. We'll set up camp here for the night."


	9. Dead End

Sakura sat and stared at the fire, listening to Naruto and Neji bicker. She glanced at the unconscious shinobi, propped up against a tree directly across from them. It had been several hours since the surgery, and she was getting a little bit worried. She sighed and focused on the flames, willing herself to concentrate on something else.

"Haruno, can I have a word?" She turned to see Itachi over her right shoulder, motioning for her to follow him.

"Yeah, sure." She got up, kneading the stiffness out of her shoulders as she followed him outside the range of the firelight. "What's up?"

He didn't respond for a moment, glancing towards the fire to make sure that they wouldn't be overheard. Satisfied that their conversation was sufficiently private, he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry about this afternoon." He began, crossing his arms across his chest. "I'm not very good at allowing others to take charge, especially if it's something out of my area of expertise."

Sakura was taken aback; she hadn't expected the Uchiha to actually _apologize_ for their argument. Truthfully, she hadn't really given it much thought; she'd gotten so used to Sasuke's rude comments that she'd completely dismissed it.

"Oh. Thanks, but you really don't have to apologize."

He raised his eyebrows, clearly surprised at her response. "I should, I was rude to you. You handled it surprisingly well. "

There was a hint of mirth in his tone, and his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. She found herself smiling back, surprising herself. "I'm not like Naruto; I can keep my temper in check. Don't worry."

He chuckled, and she felt herself relaxing at the warm sound. She'd never paid attention to his laugh before, but it was so different than Sasuke's, who had never sounded truly genuine. Sakura hadn't realized how much tension she'd been carrying in her body. It was no wonder Itachi had been expecting a fight; her body language had definitely indicated that she was on the offensive.

"I half expected you to; sometimes you react to things the same way."

"Oh god, do I?" Sakura sighed, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "That's embarrassing."

"It's not that bad." He replied, indicating the prisoner with a jerk of his head. "Is he going to wake up anytime soon?"

Sakura sighed inwardly, thrown by his abrupt change in subject. She hadn't quite figured him out yet; something told her that perhaps she would never understand him. "Hopefully, he will. It's pretty touch and go right now, I'm not sure if he'll survive."

"I would prefer it if he did, frankly." He looked sidelong at the fire, motioning for her to follow him a little further out of the clearing. "I did have something else I wanted to talk to you about. "

"Okay, shoot."

"It's uh, a bit of a strange request." He was staring determinedly over her shoulder, and for the first time, she could tell that he was uncomfortable. _Hoo boy. Please don't let it be something super weird._

She felt a jolt of anxiety, but seeing the serious expression on his face she couldn't help her curiosity. "What is it?"

Itachi was suddenly looking very interested in something on the forest floor, and he took a slow, deep breath before answering. "There's something a little odd about my eyes."

"Oh."

The silence was suddenly deafening, as her stomach gave a jolt and she slowly brought her eyes up to meet his.

"You mean, uh, well, your new eyes?" She finally managed to say, nervously playing with a lock of hair.

"Yes. I shouldn't have asked, I knew it would make you uncomfortable -"

He cut off as she put up a hand to silence him. "What's wrong with them?"

"That's what I'm hoping you can tell me. You have experience with sharingan, right?" He replied, looking at her very directly.

Unsure of what to do, she glanced over at Naruto, and then abruptly made up her mind. She was a medic first, and she'd be damned if she was going to let a personal issue get in the way of her job.

"Sit down and take off your headband." She knelt on the ground, gesturing for him to join her.

He complied; settling into a cross-legged position and untying his headband, letting it clink to the ground.

She took a deep, steadying breath, and reached forwards to place her fingertips just above his eyes. He didn't flinch, and she relaxed slightly. Probing gently with her chakra, she traveled up the tissues of the inner eye, inspecting the retina, and trying not to remember how coldly these eyes had looked at her when they had belonged to Sasuke.

She continued to travel up the optic nerve, searching for signs of damage or something odd. She found nothing abnormal; in fact, the eyes were in perfect condition. She checked again, just to be sure, but again found nothing. She removed her hands from Itachi's forehead and handed him his headband. "I can't find anything, are you sure you felt something weird?"

He sat there for a moment, eyebrow furrowed. "Yes, but if you don't see anything, it's nothing. I must not be used to them in action."

"I did notice that you don't keep your sharingan on," Sakura remarked, standing up and brushing the dirt off of her knees.

He didn't answer right away, tying his headband back on and standing up. "No, I don't. Not anymore."

He turned away, walking back to the campsite, and Sakura rolled her eyes. Clearly, the conversation was over. She was just making a move to follow him when he stopped abruptly and looked back at her.

"Thanks." He said quietly, nodding at her. "That can't have been easy for you."

She sighed. "You're welcome. I think you should continue to monitor them, and let me know if you have any more concerns."

He looked slightly amused for a second, and then his mask of indifference slid over his face once more. "I will. Go ahead, I'll take first watch."

She nodded and brushed past him. She heard him run up the side of a tree, into the branches of the canopy, and when she glanced over her shoulder he was already out of sight.

Settling down next to Naruto, she grabbed an apple out of her pack and joined the conversation. She groaned inwardly when she realized that they were talking about how many times Kakashi had beaten Guy in sparring matches. She almost envied Itachi, all alone in the tree canopy.

Itachi watched the three of them eat, absorbed in his own thoughts. His conversation with Sakura had left him with more questions than answers. He had been so sure that there was something wrong with his eyes. _There is something very wrong, I can feel it._

Reluctantly, he let his sharingan melt away, leaving behind dark eyes that were clouded with concern. He couldn't put his finger on it, the way he felt a pressure behind them, like a constant feeling of being watched. He knew his every move was being tracked in Konoha but here, when he could only sense the chakra of his teammates, Itachi knew that something wasn't right.

Frustrated by his paranoia, he checked his peripherals and glanced behind him. As usual, there was no one there, but he could have sworn there was a shadow on his mind. It fluttered around the corner of his eyes, coming and going randomly, and disappearing without a trace.

Setting his jaw, he settled back onto the branch and twirled a leaf between his fingers, thinking.

It had started after the transplant, of that much he was certain. Besides the strange shadow side effect, having perfect vision again was unnerving; he could see everything in such detail that it was almost painful.

Itachi hated being able to see. He despised himself for what he'd done to Sasuke, knowing full well that it was his fault that Fugaku had taken his brother away. He was of the opinion that he shouldn't have received Sasuke's eyes at all; it felt like an insult to his memory. He didn't blame Naruto for hating him; he had already decided that he would hold back in a fight with Uzumaki. If he died, so be it.

 _It's doubtful, though. Oh well._

Steering himself away from his morbid thoughts, Itachi wondered why it was taking Shisui so long to reply to his letter, it was unlike him to delay a reply, especially one as urgent as this.

He had finally swallowed his pride and had written to his cousin the week before. Shisui knew everything there was to know about the sharingan, and Itachi had hoped that he'd be able to shed some light on his current symptoms, months later.

He certainly hadn't suffered from nightmares before the surgery. Closing his eyes, he recalled the images that were burned into his mind. They must have been Sasuke's last memories, the florescent lights flashing overhead, the blood dripping everywhere. Sakura's panicked expression as she attempted to stop the bleeding, blood speckled over her face. Sasuke's dark, shining blood.

But the most haunting image of all, the one that woke him up night after night, was the katana blade flashing in the moonlight as he, Itachi, thrust it through Sasuke's chest.

He absentmindedly touched his own chest, remembering the phantom pain that accompanied the dreams. Itachi knew that it was foolish to keep this information private, knowing that Tsunade would never have cleared him for a mission if she'd been made aware of what was going on.

But even he didn't know that sharingan transferral would bring along memories, and perhaps something more. The skin between his shoulder blades prickled, and he shrugged it off, knowing that it was only the paranoia of being watched.

 _Fugaku will know by now that I have Sasuke's sharingan, he's not going to let me get out of this unscathed._

Glancing down at his teammates below, his eyes fell on Sakura. She was laughing along with something that Uzumaki had said, but her smile dropped away as soon as Naruto looked away. She stared into the flames, her expression unreadable. When he'd worked up the nerve to ask her to take a look at his eyes, she hadn't given away her true feelings then either.

 _She's better at hiding her emotions than I thought and she knows too much, she's right._

 _The Hokage wants both of us out of the village, that's for certain._

 _But why?_

 _I have Sasuke's sharingan, and she knows everything about his death. The only reason Fugaku would keep her alive is so that she can heal his sharingan damage, but she's too dangerous. He's underestimated how smart she is. Father has no reason to keep me around, he'll try to kill me the first chance he gets._

 _I'm not going to give him that chance._

He settled back into his perch, crossing his arms and staring up at the sky. He had some thinking to do and he didn't want to be distracted.

 **Five hours later**

Sakura was startled awake by a hand on her shoulder, and she sighed in relief when she realized that it was only Naruto.

"Hey, it's your watch." He murmured tiredly, already folding himself into his bedroll. She bit back the urge to laugh when he started snoring immediately.

Stretching the stiffness out of her limbs, she surveyed the camp. In the light from the fire she saw the sleeping forms of Neji and Naruto, but where was Itachi?

Then she spotted him, just out of the range of firelight. _What a weird guy._

Yawning, she checked the still-comatose shinobi's vitals and settled back on her heels. "Hm."

His improvement was remarkable, she was now sure he would pull through. Whether he'd be able to speak was another matter entirely. _If only we knew who he's working for._

 _That clone technique, I know it from somewhere._ _But where?_

Settling into a cross-legged position, she began to think. She racked her brain for over an hour until the sun began to peek through the trees and the birds began to sing.

 _The clones weren't shadow clones exactly; they acted more like water clones. But they disappeared in puffs of something that resembled smoke._

That's when it hit her. The chuunin exam had boasted genin from all over the place, but only those from a specific village in the Land of Water had used a technique similar to the assassin.  
 _They were steam clones!  
_ _He's got a water-type chakra signature too. I can't believe I didn't see it before._

Scooting over to the silent man, she inspected his face closely. _If he's around my age, then he would have been in the exams seven years ago.  
With this facial hair, it's hard to tell, but he almost looks familiar. I might have run into a sibling, or maybe a cousin?_

She could hear her teammates stirring behind her, but she paid them no mind. Standing up, she began to pace. The Village Hidden in the Mist was well-known for their mercenary population, but she wasn't totally sure that the assassin was one of them.

Suddenly, she had an idea. Moving down to the shinobi's feet, she quickly removed one of his sandals.

"Haruno, want to fill me in on what it is that you're doing?" Itachi asked drily, sounding faintly amused. He sauntered over to stand behind her, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

"Some of the mercenaries from the Land of Water have brands on the bottoms of their feet right?" She glanced up at him, pausing before taking off the second sandal.

He raised his eyebrow, looking thoughtful. "I've never seen one, but yes."

"I was wondering why the chakra patterns he was putting out were so familiar to me yesterday."

"You said that you recognized them."

"Yeah, that's what was bothering me. I just remembered where I'd run into them before."

"Okay, continue." Itachi crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly.

"Neji, do you remember the steam clones that the mist genin came up with for our chuunin exam?" She called, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'd forgotten about that, it's an interesting technique. It's a combination of a lightning style camouflage jutsu and the water clone jutsu." Neji replied, shoveling dirt over the fire pit.  
"Now that you mention it, it's remarkably similar to yesterday's clone army." He remarked thoughtfully.

"That's what I was thinking." Sakura nodded, and then bent over to inspect the assassin's heel. "Nothing here."

"Something like that probably takes a lot of chakra to maintain," Itachi remarked, bending down to see what Sakura was doing.

"Apparently they don't." Neji shook his head. "The lightening jutsu provides the energy for the steam; all the user has to do is control the clone."

"Imagine what Uzumaki could do with a jutsu like that." Itachi glanced over at the still-sleeping Naruto, who had one arm flung over his face, and was snoring spectacularly.

Sakura almost snorted, he looked so ridiculous.

Prying off the second sandal, she felt a flash of triumph as a small brand shaped like a lightning bolt became visible. "Gotcha!"

"Does he have a mark?" Neji walked over to Naruto and nudged him awake.

"Looks like it!" Sakura said smugly, pleased that her theory had played out.

"Using lightning style jutsu, carrying a brand that looks like a bolt of lightning…" Itachi trailed off thoughtfully.

"What are the chances that they also work for a guy named Raiton?" Sakura finished his thought, raising her eyebrows.

"Subtlety doesn't seem to be his strong suit." Itachi murmured, shaking his head. "He's probably the mobster type; half of his power comes from his reputation."

"Is he gonna wake up?" Naruto sat up, yawning hugely.

Sakura glanced over. "Yeah, I don't know when, though."

Itachi frowned. "We need to get going, is there any way that you can wake him up?"

She shrugged, tilting her head to one side thoughtfully. "Yeah, I could. But I don't know if he'll be able to talk."

"There's only one way to find out." He stood up and motioned to Neji. "We should prop him up against that tree."

"Whoa! Hang on! You can't just throw him around like a sack of potatoes!" Sakura shot to her feet, putting her body between Itachi and the immobile shinobi.

"We won't." Neji put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "We'll use caution."

Sakura sighed, and then nodded. "Okay. Just make sure you don't jostle his spine."

She moved to the side and watched closely as Itachi and Neji carefully lifted and moved the man fifteen feet, settling him into a sitting position at the base of a giant oak.

Naruto finished rolling up his bed roll and came to stand beside her. "How's your chakra?"

"What?" She had been so focused on watching the other two that the question hadn't registered.

"How's your chakra level? You did surgery for hours yesterday, and I know you didn't sleep much."

She smiled sheepishly. "I can't hide anything from you anymore. I'm okay, don't worry. I have reserves that I can dip into if I need to."

He hummed his disapproval. "Be careful. Uchiha will push you too far." She didn't need to look at his face to know that he was scowling.

Rolling her eyes at him, she crossed her arms. "I'm fine. He won't do that, he knows better than to let the medic run out of chakra. Simmer down."

Before Naruto could reply, Itachi gestured for them to cross the clearing. "Haruno, are you ready?"

"Yeah." She knelt down in front of the bound man, placing her fingertips on his temples. She glanced over at Itachi, who was settling his ANBU mask over his face once more. He nodded at her, signaling that it was time to begin.

Sakura took a deep breath, clearing her mind. Reaching out with her chakra, she located the nerve endings at the base of the skull. Concentrating, she sent a pulse of energy through her fingertips, sending what felt like electricity through his head into his spinal cord. Immediately his eyes snapped open and he sucked in a shocked breath.

She stepped back and gestured to Itachi. He stepped forward, looking very intimidating in his mask. Drawing his katana slowly out of its sheath, he knelt down in front of the captive.

"Can you speak?"

The assassin glared at him with such ferocity that Sakura raised her eyebrows. "I'm not stupid."

Smirking, Sakura turned away slightly. She was extremely pleased with the results of the surgery, she'd managed to repair his brain and maintain the integrity of his cognitive processes. She couldn't wait to brag to Shizune when they got back to Konoha.

"You're going to tell us who you work for," Itachi stated calmly, his voice slightly muffled by his mask.

"Fuck you." The assassin hissed, glaring at him.

"Who do you work for?" Itachi lazily brought the blade of his katana up to the man's neck.

"You little leaf shinobi think that just because you caught me, I'll tell you everything?"

"You're going to tell me because I'm going to make being alive very unpleasant for you if you don't."

Something in the tone of Itachi's voice made the hair on the back of Sakura's neck stand up. She was hit with a shudder of revulsion, and there was no doubt in her mind that Itachi meant every word. _He can torture him with a single pulse of his sharingan._

"Let's see if you can guess." The assassin grinned, and suddenly he had something white in his mouth.

"It's poison!" Itachi barked, and they all started forward to stop him, but it was too late.

Sakura could only watch as he bit down on the pill disguised as a tooth. Immediately, his body started to spasm as chakra ran through it, creating a blue light, not unlike Kakashi's lightning blade technique. A high pitched buzzing sound keened through the air, and the air crackled with lightning.

"It's going to explode!" Neji yelled, and they immediately moved away from the tree. Sakura could tell that there was no way that they would be able to get clear of the blast zone in time. _This is not good!_

Sakura glanced at Naruto, and they made eye contact as the chakra exploded outwards. If she was going to die here, she was glad that they were together.


End file.
